United States v. Waller et al

Filing 72

ORDER granting 69 Motion to Compel (see order for details); Defendant shall have 14 days to file a response, if any is desired. Signed by Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah on 10/20/2020. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - JM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

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Case No. 2:16-CV-00352-JCM-EJY

Plaintiff,
ORDER

v.
WILLIAM WALLER, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Before the Court is the United States’ Renewed Motion to Compel (ECF No. 69) to which
no response was filed.

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In its Renewed Motion, the United States correctly points out that the Court issued a prior

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order on July 22, 2020 (ECF No. 66) that granted, in part, Defendant Waller’s Motion to Extend

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Time. The Court’s Order provided Defendant 90 additional days, through September 9, 2020, to

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respond to the United States’ discovery requests. Id. at 3. The Court further ordered, in pertinent

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part, that no further extensions of time would be granted, that Defendant had waived all objections

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to the United States’ interrogatories, document requests, and requests for admissions, and

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Defendant’s failure to respond to discovery by September 9, 2020, which discovery was originally

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propounded on March 2, 2020, would result in an order of the Court that all requests for admissions

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would be deemed admitted, and that additional sanctions might issue. Id. at 3-4.

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The pending Renewed Motion establishes that Defendant failed to respond to the outstanding

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discovery on or before September 9, 2020. ECF No. 69 at 3 citing the Declaration of Alexander

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Stevko (ECF No. 69-1). The United States now seeks an order specifically deeming all requests for

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admissions admitted and prohibiting Defendant from challenging the presumption of correctness

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afforded the Certificates of Assessment and Payments (IRS forms 4340) with respect to income tax

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liabilities for the years 2003 through 2009. The United States also seeks an award of attorney’s fees

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and costs.

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Having provided Defendant approximately six months to respond to discovery, the Court

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finds it appropriate to issue sanctions at this time. Rule 36(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil

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Procedure authorizes the Court to deem admitted all requests for admissions to which Defendant

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failed to respond within 30 days of service. Rule 37(b) and (c) of the Federal Rules of Civil

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Procedure authorizes the Court to issue sanctions based on Defendant’s failure to obey the Court’s

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prior Order and failure to respond to properly propounded interrogatories and document requests.

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Accordingly,

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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the United States’ Renewed Motion to Compel (ECF No.

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69) is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant is deemed to have admitted each and every
Request for Admission propounded on March 2, 2020, by the United States on Defendant.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant is prohibited from challenging the presumption

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of correctness afforded the Certificates of Assessment and Payments (IRS forms 4340) with respect

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to income tax liabilities for the years 2003 through 2009.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall be required to pay reasonable fees and

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costs incurred by the United States for bringing its first Motion to Compel (ECF No. 62) and its

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Renewed Motion to Compel (ECF No. 69).

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the United States shall submit a memorandum of fees and

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costs incurred in bringing the Motion to Compel and Renewed Motion to Compel detailing the

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activities, hours spent (in tenths of hours), and the rate charged by each attorney who worked on

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these Motions. Appropriate redactions from billing records for attorney client privilege and/or work

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product may be made for the public filing with non-redacted copies of such records filed under seal.

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The United States shall also submit to the Court records evidencing the costs incurred relating to the

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Motions. Defendant shall have 14 days to file a response, if any is desired. No reply shall be

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permitted by the United States.

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Dated this 20th day of October, 2020

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ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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