Peter Cinquegrani, a former Arnold & Porter tax partner, was sentenced yesterday to three years probation for marketing fraudulent tax shelters. Mr. Cinquegrani, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy to commit tax fraud, aiding and abetting tax evasion, and aiding in the submission of false and fraudulent documents to the Internal Revenue Service, was given probation because of his substantial cooperation with the probe and prosecution of illegal tax shelters for high-income clients of Ernst & Young.

Southern District Judge Sidney Stein said yesterday he saw no purpose to sending Mr. Cinquegrani to prison, although the judge considered the impact a prison sentence would have in terms of general deterrence to other lawyers tempted to cross the line. In the end, Judge Stein said, Mr. Cinquegrani worked with prosecutors from the beginning, helping them decipher complicated tax transactions. Accompanied by defense attorney Paul C. Rauser of Washington, D.C.-based Aegis Law Group, Mr. Cinquegrani, 50, was emotional as he addressed the court. “When I was going to law school, you think about appearing in federal court. This is not what I had in mind,” he said. “I think my desire to be a big shot, feel that I was part of the in crowd in the tax community, overrode my conscience.” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard C. Tarlowe and Mark D. Lanpher represented the government. – Mark Hamblett

State High Court Accepts Certified Question From Del.

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