Woman pleads for husband in tax case

Jace Radke

Friday, May 3, 2002 | 9:53 a.m.

Katja Crosby broke down Tuesday as she pleaded with U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt not to send her husband to prison for filing a false tax return involving income the government said was made by trafficking in bootlegged compact discs.

"I have a 1-year-old son and a mother who is dying," Crosby said through her sobs. "I really don't think I can do this without him."

Crosby's words may have influenced Hunt, who was leaning toward sentencing her husband, Ali Moghadam, to between 18 and 24 months in prison, but instead ordered six months in prison and six months and a day of home confinement.

Hunt found that the couple owed $64,444 to the Internal Revenue Service, and ordered them to pay that amount as restitution. In a plea agreement Moghadam admitted delivering a false tax return in 1994, and Crosby admitted to conspiring to deliver a false tax return.

Crosby was sentenced to three years of probation Tuesday.

Hunt said he reconsidered his sentence for Moghadam because the defendant had demonstrated that he was making efforts to get his life in order. Hunt added that family obligations also played a role in the court's decision.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rimantas Rukstele argued that Moghadam should have been given a maximum sentence, noting his criminal history and the government's contention that the taxes were owed on income illegally obtained through a bootleg CD business.

Moghadam was previously convicted of trafficking in CDs and perjury. In October 1997, Glendale, Calif., police found 7,867 bootleg CDs, electronic bootlegging equipment, insert cards and plastic jewel boxes in Moghadam's apartment.

According to court records Moghadam would have live concerts recorded and then send the recordings to Japan to be duplicated for sale. Bootleg CDs of artists such as Metallica and the Smiths were found in his home.

"He lives the American dream, and it's all based on his illegal activity," Rukstele said.

The government contended that the couple owed more than $140,000 in taxes, but Hunt reduced the amount based on arguments that some of the income in question was the result of untaxable loans.

Moghadam's attorney, David Chesnoff, argued that his client no longer runs a bootlegging business and that he moved to Las Vegas to start a new life with his family.

Chuck Hausman, anti-piracy counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America, attended the hearing and said that the music industry is frequently victimized by people like Moghadam.

"Ali Moghadam is very well known to us and to the bootleg community," Hausman said. "The recording industry loses millions of dollars a year to piracy. A lot of people will say Madonna doesn't need the money anyway, but it filters to all levels, and even down to the people loading CDs in a warehouse.

"The bootlegging community is very tight-knit, and we hope word that these cases are being prosecuted gets out and causes a ripple effect."