Random Sov-Cit Babblings

[AnOwlCalledSage]

I thought the US section could benefit from a thread for news items about those who probably don't merit a thread of their own as they pass by.

First up. UCC liens

Lancaster County News via Virgo Triad
Link doesn't work from Europe

A Lancaster County woman has been sentenced to a year in prison and fined $25,000 for filing $15 million in false and fraudulent liens against an employee of the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain said Tuesday.

Dorothy Recarde, 68, of Kirkwood, filed the liens after mailing the IRS letters "that espoused sovereign citizen ideology, an anti-government movement that, among other things, denies the government’s authority to impose taxes," according to McSwain in a news release.

Recarde's business, Summerbeam Woodworking, had owed about $24,000 in federal taxes, according to the release.

“The sovereign citizen movement is nonsense and will be treated as such,” McSwain said in the release. “And if you use it as an excuse to harass and retaliate against an IRS agent, you’re going to jail. Then you’ll have plenty of free time to think about the consequences of flouting the law.”

Recarde's attorney, Heather J. Mattes, said the situation started when Summerbeam Woodworking was unable to pay taxes after the housing crash in 2008.

"Unfortunately on this occasion, she was influenced by the sovereign citizen scam, where under the guise of education, they encourage ordinary citizens to challenge the authority of the IRS," Mattes said. "She fell into that trap."

Recarde, Mattes said, has taken responsibility for her conduct, expressed remorse and pleaded guilty to trying to obstruct the IRS. She argued that the behavior did not constitute harassment or intimidation.

The sentence by U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond is within guidelines, Recarde said, but she feels that "jailing a 68-year-old asthmatic woman, in the age of covid, for this sort of error in judgment, is a waste of federal resources and abuse of judicial discretion."

Recarde is scheduled to report to prison in October, Mattes said. Along with the prison sentence and fine, Recarde will also have one year of supervised release.

[HardyW]

Lancaster County News via Virgo Triad
Link doesn't work from Europe

This one does
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/la ... ns-against
The news release refers to "Bogus and illegal liens, such as those filed by the defendant". But the actual offence is given as "corruptly endeavoring to obstruct or impede the due administration of the Internal Revenue Service." So interestingly it is not explicitly the harassment of an individual agent that is charged, and we aren't any wiser about what is the defining feature of an "illegal lien". Unless the judgement is online somewhere.

[The Observer]

But the actual offence is given as "corruptly endeavoring to obstruct or impede the due administration of the Internal Revenue Service."

US laws are typically used to cover many situations without having to resort to having a specific law for each and every time a particular or unique crime is committed. Crafting laws with broad language allows the government to prosecute efficiently and timely and it is up to the judge to determine if the law applies. In this instance, the law targets any behavior that a taxpayer would use to intimidate an IRS employee from carrying out their duties. The whole point of sovruns/tax protestors filing liens is to get back at the IRS employee and to cause them a myriad of problems in their personal lives while sending a message to the rest of the IRS that they could be next.

[W]e aren't any wiser about what is the defining feature of an "illegal lien".

Any document filed with a local county recorder's office or court alleging that the subject owes money to the filer or that their assets have been attached by the filer would count as a lien under our system.

[JamesVincent]

SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah woman, who police suspect has ties to a far-right, anti-government extremist group that is part of the so-called "sovereign citizens" movement, is accused of kidnapping her 6-year-old son during a supervised visit over the weekend and fleeing the state.

https://www.fox6now.com/news/anti-gover ... rid-police

[morrand]

[W]e aren't any wiser about what is the defining feature of an "illegal lien".

Any document filed with a local county recorder's office or court alleging that the subject owes money to the filer or that their assets have been attached by the filer would count as a lien under our system.

And in this case, an illegal lien is one filed in violation of 18 USC 1521:

Retaliating against a Federal judge or Federal law enforcement officer by false claim or slander of title. Whoever files, attempts to file, or conspires to file, in any public record or in any private record which is generally available to the public, any false lien or encumbrance against the real or personal property of an [officer or employee of the United States], on account of the performance of official duties by that individual, knowing or having reason to know that such lien or encumbrance is false or contains any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

Since she pleaded guilty, the offending lien never made it into the public record for the case, and I can't find it listed in the county recorder's online search, but I suspect you can guess what it said. They don't vary much.

[noblepa]

Any document filed with a local county recorder's office or court alleging that the subject owes money to the filer or that their assets have been attached by the filer would count as a lien under our system.

And, if there is no underlying, legally enforceable debt, then such a lien would be fraudulent and illegal.

[JamesVincent]

Just an update to the story I linked earlier. The mother was found and arrested in Oregon and the boy was recovered without harm. The grandmother has been charged with obstruction of justice. None of the articles I found have any more real link to additional sovruns.


https://kutv.com/news/local/police-miss ... ith-mother

[The Observer]

Any document filed with a local county recorder's office or court alleging that the subject owes money to the filer or that their assets have been attached by the filer would count as a lien under our system.

And, if there is no underlying, legally enforceable debt, then such a lien would be fraudulent and illegal.

But of course. But that typically involves going to court to contest the legality of the notice of lien recorded, thus why it is used as a tool of harassment by sovruns/tax protesters. Given our current system of requiring all creditors being required to confirm the existence of senior creditors by researching recorder's filings, none are going to risk advancing monies by presuming that any particular lien notice may be fraudulent. It is just safer for them to deny the loan/credit request based on the fact that there is a senior lienholder on record.

[technos]

One local to me, a barber fined for breaking health code and staying open during the pandemic.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/90000-fi ... sh-barber/

On March 29, 2021, Attorney General Bob Ferguson went to court to get an order requiring Martin to pay. A month later the barber responded by delivering a promissory note “as satisfaction of the debt” to Assistant Attorney General Michelle Carr, who is handling the case. And in May, Martin filed paperwork to demand a trial in front of a 12-person jury — which he won’t be getting.

In August .... He contended that the promissory note satisfied his debt. “To the best of my knowledge, the issue of $90,000 is resolved,” he wrote. “I have seen no evidence to the contrary and I believe no such evidence exists.”

He goes on to argue that the court “does not have the jurisdiction to determine what a dollar is … nor to determine what is the lawful money of the United States.”

From another article, https://keprtv.com/news/local/snohomish ... d-pandemic:

“The $90,000 fine was paid with a promissory note so it’s a done deal,” Martin said. “As far as the $90,000 is concerned, who's the injured party? That’s the question. No one got hurt.”

He's lost his cosmetology license and during the course of this whole thing the state has discovered he's been operating without a business license for four years, so there are more fines coming this month on more than one front.

[AnOwlCalledSage]

The "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" defence

On April 21, 2021, Verge filed the motion in the present case, captioned a Motion to Set Aside and Correction of Illegal Sentence. He appears to allege that no Kansas district court had jurisdiction to convict or sentence him because he was a "natural living soul, Indigenous Native Moorish-American National" who resided in Missouri at the time of the murders.

https://www.kscourts.org/KSCourts/media ... f?ext=.pdf

[wserra]

Verge repeatedly demanded that the judge prove the source of his jurisdiction over him

Verge has obviously been reading/consulting Marc Stevens. Don't worry, Robert Lee, Stevens never got anywhere with it either.

[Burnaby49]

Didn't work for any of my Paradigm tax evaders either.

[The Observer]

Didn't work for any of my Paradigm tax evaders either.

And it didn't work for me when I used it to try to score a second dessert. My wife told me that demanding that she prove she had jurisdiction over the fudge brownies was just pathetic. She then locked them away.

[morrand]

From the Consolidated Bureau of Early Warnings and Late Whimpers comes a brief item from the November 12, 2022 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times (page 17):

In the Circuit Court for Cook County, Illinois
In the Matter of the Petition of LAMAR LEE
Case # 2022CONC001521
For Change of Name

Notice of Publication

Public Notice is hereby given that on February 2, 2023, at 9:00 am being one of the return days in the Circuit Court of the County of Cook, I will file my petition in said court praying for the change of my name from LAMAR LEE, to that of Lamar Lee, pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided.
Dated at Cook County, Illinois, November 4, 2022.
Signature of Petitioner
/s/ Lamar Lee

I can't say from this distance whether this is a new approach to the ALL CAPS name problem, or the dying whispers of the old ones, or for that matter something totally innocent and normal that the published notice obscures.

[noblepa]

From the Consolidated Bureau of Early Warnings and Late Whimpers comes a brief item from the November 12, 2022 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times (page 17):

In the Circuit Court for Cook County, Illinois
In the Matter of the Petition of LAMAR LEE
Case # 2022CONC001521
For Change of Name

Notice of Publication

Public Notice is hereby given that on February 2, 2023, at 9:00 am being one of the return days in the Circuit Court of the County of Cook, I will file my petition in said court praying for the change of my name from LAMAR LEE, to that of Lamar Lee, pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided.
Dated at Cook County, Illinois, November 4, 2022.
Signature of Petitioner
/s/ Lamar Lee

I just hope that the judge doesn't look at this and say "This change is meaningless, so I will grant it, just to make him go away". That would make it more difficult, down the road, when Mr. Lee (LEE?) is charged with tax evasion or something and the charging documents refer to LAMAR LEE. He will then produce the probate judge's ruling and argue that he has legal proof that he is not LAMAR LEE, but rather, Lamar Lee.

I can't say from this distance whether this is a new approach to the ALL CAPS name problem, or the dying whispers of the old ones, or for that matter something totally innocent and normal that the published notice obscures.

[morrand]

I just hope that the judge doesn't look at this and say "This change is meaningless, so I will grant it, just to make him go away". That would make it more difficult, down the road, when Mr. Lee (LEE?) is charged with tax evasion or something and the charging documents refer to LAMAR LEE. He will then produce the probate judge's ruling and argue that he has legal proof that he is not LAMAR LEE, but rather, Lamar Lee.

No risk of that. On closer inspection, the petition was denied on November 7. No information on why, exactly.

[AnOwlCalledSage]

LANSING, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- A self-described "sovereign citizen" has been sentenced for submitting a fraudulent $1 million check, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday.

Damon Montgomery was sentenced on Wednesday to 337 days in jail with 337 days credit, plus fines and costs.

Montgomery had pled guilty to three counts of no-account check, felonies punishable to two years in prison or a $500 fine.

A charge of habitual felony offender was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

"The charges against Montgomery stem from his actions in January of 2021 when he sent three checks to the Michigan Department of Treasury in an attempt to pay his taxes," the Michigan Department of Attorney General said in a press release.

"Each check contained TCF Bank routing numbers and was made payable to the State of Michigan for $1M.The checks were returned as Montgomery did not have an account at TCF Bank," the AG's office said.

As a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen, Montgomery believes he is exempt from certain Michigan laws and regulations, is not under the jurisdiction of any government, and is not subject to taxes.

“Those who use schemes and tricks to evade paying their fair share of taxes will be held accountable,” Nessel said. “I’m grateful for the dedicated work of the staff at the Michigan Department of Treasury and the attorneys and investigators in the Financial Crimes Division of the Department of Attorney General who ensured justice was served.”

https://midmichigannow.com/news/local/s ... -1m-check#

Copied the article as the link doesn't work from the UK unless you use a VPN.

[technos]

An update on the barber, Bob Martin, who lost his license to cut hair and tried to pay his COVID fines with a promissory note written on toilet paper:

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/snohomis ... -in-fines/

Basically? He got away with it. Sure, there's a $90,000 lien on his house, but he managed to get himself a business license and hired a licensed barber to stay out of any further legal trouble.

That's not to say he's come to his senses or anything. In fact, he recently went on Tucker Carlson (https://mynorthwest.com/3871879/snohomi ... air-covid/) to pretend to cut hair and rant incoherently about COVID.

Despite scoring a national media appearance, I suspect this will probably be the last we hear about him.

[SteveD]

Another 'sovcit success'
Meet Eric Bochene

Is he a sovcit?- this submitted to the court certainly suggests so...

Why was he in court???
Well if you had been watching TV on a certain date when a 'group of tourists' went on a 'tour' in Washington, when a 'minor disturbance' happened- you probably missed it, it was just after Christmas a while back...
You might have seen him in the background...

That left shot is him on his 'peaceful tourist trip', he and some of his buddies visited the Capitol Building in Washington...

https://www.romesentinel.com/news/state ... 6f754.html
I suspect that he is going to find avoiding that federal warrant than one issued by a judge from 'nowhere' in southern 'where the .... is THAT' a little bit more difficult...

And...

Well, that went well...

Two whole weeks, and he's been arrested LOL
https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2023/08/ ... stody.html
He's gunna be rich!!!- all those fingerprintings and mugshot photos and the like, they will owe him millions in fees!!!
Yeah, not gunna happen, Eric me lad... LOL
But you will possibly get a nice holiday, bed and food provided for free no less...