Brown supporters indictments

[Nikki]

Demo's information sources border on omniscience.

That is one frightning cat.

[Famspear]

Demo wrote:

The Marshals have started to arrest people. Lauren Canario, who has been a regular at the house, bringing food and cells phones, has been taken into custody.

Any more detail on this? Does this kind of thing (and the arrests of the Fab Four -- Gonzalez, etc. -- the other day) signal a more or less permanent change in gov't tactics -- to ratchet up the pressure?

Specifically, what was this Lauren Canario charged with that would cause her to be arrested while others are allowed into the compound?

[Demosthenes]

Specifically, what was this Lauren Canario charged with that would cause her to be arrested while others are allowed into the compound?

Canario had an outstanding failure to appear warrant.

And yes, I think we're witnessing a sea change in the tactics being used by the Marshals.

Must call editor.

[.]

Gosh, the "freedom fest" may be a flop. Or a success, depending on how you look at it.

[Demosthenes]

Gosh, the "freedom fest" may be a flop. Or a success, depending on how you look at it.

Tain't no jamboree going on today.

[webhick]

Without Any Help From My Friends
(sung to the tune of A Little Help From My Friends)

What would you do if my friends all got screwed?
Would you back down and escape arrest?
Lend me your ears and I'll spin you a tale
'bout treason and what I think is best.

Oh, I can't get by without any help from my friends
Mm, I can't get high without any help from my friends
Mm, can't try without any help from my friends

What do I do when the supplies all run out?
(What happened to your MDEs?)
How do I survive without anyone nearby?
(Are you sad cause you pushed them away?)

No, I can't get by without any help from my friends
Mm, I can't get high without any help from my friends
Mm, can't try without any help from my friends

Do you need anybody
I need someone to listen
Could it be anybody
I want someone to worship me

Do you believe in the fed guv'ment?
Not if they try to enforce the laws
What do you see when you turn out the light
Evil guv'ment coming to get me

Oh, I can't get by without any help from my friends
Mm, I can't get high without any help from my friends
Mm, can't try without any help from my friends

Do you need anybody, I need someone to listen
Could it be anybody, I want someone to worship me

Oh, I can't get by without any help from my friends
without any help from my friends.

[Demosthenes]

Danny Riley's father makes a video. Compares the Marshals to Nazis.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 5024&hl=en

26 minutes and not once does he express any concern for his son Danny's situation or future.

[Scoop]

Three of the four arrested were charged with one or more counts of conspiracy. Were Ed or Elaine Brown among the alleged conspirators?

If they were (and it's difficult to believe that they were not), is it possible that they have already been indicted on new charges, and that the indictment has been sealed until they have been brought into custody? The idea being that they might surrender facing the sentences already imposed, but might be unwilling to surrender if they knew they could be facing prison terms of two or three times longer because of additional charges.

And is this something I shouldn't be writing publicly?

The marshal has already suggested as much. Over the past few days he's kept repeating the sentence: "This was a tax case."

[Demosthenes]

Elaine Brown also failed to appear for what was to be the fourth day of evidence but, after a brief continuance of the proceedings, she returned for the remainder of the trial. Whereupon she was convicted and then released on bail pending sentencing. Shortly thereafter, however, she was charged with violating conditions of her release pending sentencing by removing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and returning to her residence where Ed Brown remained. A federal warrant was issued for her arrest.

I think that may be evidence of a sealed indictment.

[wserra]

I think that may be evidence of a sealed indictment.

Per FRCrP 6(e), an indictment is typically kept sealed until a defendant is arraigned on it.

[Imalawman]

Without Any Help From My Friends
(sung to the tune of A Little Help From My Friends)

What would you do if my friends all got screwed?
Would you back down and escape arrest?
Lend me your ears and I'll spin you a tale
'bout treason and what I think is best.

....

Oh, I can't get by without any help from my friends
without any help from my friends.

hehe, I like it. Now where's the youtube recording webhick?

[Demosthenes]

Go, Scoop, go!

Plainfield

Feds keep close eye on Browns
Marshals have interrogated some of couples' supporters

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff

September 17, 2007

Before arresting four supporters of Ed and Elaine Brown last week, U.S. marshals conducted extensive surveillance on the tax protesting couple who are holed up in their Plainfield home, court documents show.

While the marshals have said little about their investigation of the Browns and their allies over the past eight months, recently unsealed affidavits reveal that they have quietly been interrogating some of the Browns' supporters, conducting aerial surveillance and intercepting mailed packages for the couple. That information helped lead to the arrest last week of four core supporters of the couple. The court documents also outline facts that could form the basis for new charges against the Browns themselves.

The affidavits, which were submitted by marshals as a basis for three of the four arrest warrants, detail some of those surveillance findings, including intelligence about the layout of the Browns' property, explosives, and security measures employed to protect Ed and Elaine Brown.

The Browns were convicted in January of a series of tax-related crimes and have remained in their hilltop home for months, threatening violence if marshals come to arrest them. They have called repeatedly for supporters to come and guard the property and to send military-style supplies and provisions.

Stephen Monier, the U.S. Marshal for New Hampshire, has said little about the marshals' plans for the Browns or their supporters and has declined to describe evidence discovered by his agents. Since the Browns' sentencing in April, Monier has repeated that supporters may face criminal sanctions for aiding the Browns and that he has no plans to raid the Brown home.

"We've said from the beginning that we're going to take a slow, deliberate and methodical approach," Monier said at a press briefing Thursday.

The recently unsealed documents give the fullest picture yet of the marshals' techniques and findings.

According to the documents, one of the Browns' supporters, Daniel Riley, of Cohoes, N.Y., gave investigators a detailed account of weapons and explosive devices on the Browns' property after he was detained by marshals in June. Riley was walking the Browns' dog when he stumbled upon a surveillance team in the woods near the driveway. On a video Riley posted on the internet that night, he described his capture and interrogation, but did not say that he provided the marshals with information.

But according to one of the affidavits, Riley described how he came to visit the Browns, what weapons he brought into the house and what weapons he saw while he was there. He told investigators that he had seen several rifles, handguns and two black powder explosive devices in the house that were designed to be used as grenades. Ed Brown said there were 10 to 20 similar explosive devices on the property, Riley told marshals.

Riley also told investigators that he had brought a number of supplies to the house that Ed Brown requested, including 25 fire extinguishers, and a .50-caliber rifle, and that he had ordered 12 pounds of Tannerite, a chemical agent for an explosive device, the document says.

The documents describe aerial surveillance of the Brown house on the day Riley was detained. According to another of the affidavits, a marshal was watching the house from a plane that day with a telephoto lens. That marshal was able to observe Cirino Gonzalez of Alice, Texas, another recently arrested Brown supporter, walking the property with a high-powered rifle and Ed Brown using vehicles to block his driveway.

"As Brown drove the cars, Gonzalez walked within several feet of Brown and paid careful attention to what was happening on the property while carrying a high-powered rifle," the affidavit says.

According to the third affidavit, supporters sent the Browns camouflage outfits, fishing weights, fishing line, flashlights, solar powered security lights and more than 500 pounds of dehydrated food. The document used to secure an arrest warrant for Robert Wolffe of Randolph, Vt., describes many of the packages mailed to Wolffe after he offered his address as the site of a "Liberty Defense Project" and said he'd deliver any mailings to the Browns.

An affidavit supporting the arrest warrant of Jason Gerhard, the Brown supporter charged with the most crimes last week, has not been made public. Marshals also found a pipe bomb and other weapons at Gerhard's Brookhaven, N.Y., home last week, according to the local police.

Two Brown supporters who have not been arrested were also mentioned in the documents. Rob Jacobs of Allenstown, who moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project, and James Hobbs of Phoenix, who lived in a trailer on the Brown property for several weeks this summer, are both described as helping the arrested supporters.

On Saturday, marshals continued to ratchet up pressure on the couple, when they established a checkpoint near their home to prevent visitors from attending a planned "Fall Freedom Fest" party. One supporter, Lauren Canairo, was arrested after she refused to follow the marshals' instructions, Monier said Saturday.

[Imalawman]

Any word on when the hearing for the Fab Four are going to be held today? Any word on the results thus far?

[Scoop]

Robert Wolffe's detention hearing is at 2 p.m. Riley asked for a continuance until Wednesday. Gonzalez and Gerhard will be in town later this week, probably Wednesday.

[Imalawman]

Thanks for the info!

[Demosthenes]

Concord Monitor

Man stays jailed in Browns case
He's accused of aiding tax-resisting couple

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff

September 18, 2007 12:21AM

A Vermont man charged with helping Plainfield tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown escape capture agreed yesterday to stay in jail until his November trial.

Prosecutors argued that Robert Wolffe, 50, of Randolph, Vt., had provided support to the Browns by lending them a car, acting as a conduit for supplies and spending time at their fortified home with weapons. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen, Wolffe told investigators that he intended to fight and die for the Browns if marshals tried to capture them. He was one of four Brown supporters arrested by marshals last week.

The Browns, who were both convicted of a series of tax-related crimes, have remained holed up in their fortified concrete home for months, threatening violence if marshals come to arrest them. The Browns contend that they are not liable for federal income taxes and have attracted the attention and support of others who share their views and their disdain for the federal government. They have endured with the help of a range of supporters, who have brought food, weapons, cell phones and other supplies.

In a court hearing yesterday, Huftalen tried to make the case for Wolffe's continued detention, arguing that Wolffe was a danger to the community and likely to flee if he was released from federal custody. According to Huftalen, marshals found Wolffe's home filled with strategically located weapons, including an AK-47 and a Ruger rifle when they visited to interview his wife, Valeri, the day Wolffe was arrested. When they returned later with a search warrant, all of the weapons had been hidden in the back of her SUV, along with noise protection earmuffs, several full boxes of ammunition and two packed suitcases. In an interview that night, Valeri Wolffe told marshals that she'd planned to pick up her husband after his release and go away for a few days, Huftalen said.

"The defendant was planning to flee, most likely to the Browns' house, where the defendant stated he was willing to fight and die," Huftalen said.

Huftalen said that Valeri Wolffe told an internet radio host that she and her husband had communicated using code words on the day of his arrest, a contention that Wolffe's attorney disputed. When marshals searched Valeri Wolffe's work computer at the Department of Transportation, they found a 62-page document, sent by her husband, "which can best be described as a book on how to kill government agents," Huftalen said. One chapter was titled "Let's get lethal."

Paul Garrity, Wolffe's lawyer, argued that Wolffe was a nonviolent man with strong ties to his Vermont community. He said that actions undertaken by Wolffe's wife ought not to reflect badly on his client. Valeri Wolffe packed the weapons in the car, Garrity said, only after she was advised to do so by the radio host. He also said that Wolffe had not read the book found on his wife's work computer because he had been unable to open the file himself. The weapons, he said, had been purchased legally.

"He's basically a peaceful person with some pretty strong views," Garrity said.

According to Garrity, Valeri Wolffe had videotaped her husband's interview with investigators. He said the interview had "been totally misconstrued by the government," and he offered to show the recording to the judge as proof. Just before the video would have aired in the courtroom, Wolffe agreed to remain in jail.

During the hearing, the prosecutor also reviewed allegations against Wolffe made in his grand jury indictment and an affidavit used to obtain his arrest warrant. According to the document, Wolffe delivered more than 500 pounds of dehydrated food along with camouflage outfits, fishing weights, fishing line and solar-powered security lights to the Browns. The items were among those on a long list of requested supplies posted on the internet. The list also included roofing nails, garage door openers, smoke grenades, night vision goggles and flare guns.

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has confirmed reports that there are "dangerous conditions" on the Brown property. Ed Brown has bragged that there are traps in the woods surrounding his house. Other court documents allege that the Browns have black powder explosive grenades and may have other improvised explosive devices.

Wolffe is a longtime friend of Ed Brown and the Vermont commander of the U.S. Constitution Rangers, a national anti-government group that Ed Brown once led. He was one of four supporters of the couple who were arrested last week and charged with helping the Browns escape capture. Wolffe only faces one charge, for aiding and abetting the Browns. But the three other men face more charges, for conspiring to impede federal officers and for providing weapons to the Browns.

Jason Gerhard, 22, of Brookhaven, N.Y.; Cirino Gonzalez, 30, of Alice, Texas; and Daniel Riley, 40, of Cohoes, N.Y., will all be in court for similar detention hearings later this week. Riley's hearing had been scheduled for yesterday but was postponed at his request. Gerhard and Gonzalez are awaiting transport from Missouri and Texas, where they were arrested. Monier said they may reach New Hampshire by tomorrow.

[The Observer]

When marshals searched Valeri Wolffe's work computer at the Department of Transportation, they found a 62-page document, sent by her husband, "which can best be described as a book on how to kill government agents," Huftalen said. One chapter was titled "Let's get lethal."

Paul Garrity, Wolffe's lawyer, argued that Wolffe was a nonviolent man with strong ties to his Vermont community. He said that actions undertaken by Wolffe's wife ought not to reflect badly on his client. Valeri Wolffe packed the weapons in the car, Garrity said, only after she was advised to do so by the radio host. He also said that Wolffe had not read the book found on his wife's work computer because he had been unable to open the file himself. The weapons, he said, had been purchased legally.

"He's basically a peaceful person with some pretty strong views," Garrity said.

I wonder if there was a chapter in that manual on "How to make your defense attorney look like an idiot."

[Demosthenes]

From the Union Leader story:

Wolffe, a tall, slender man with salt-and-pepper hair and mustache, sent an e-mail on Aug. 6 to his wife's work computer at the federal transportation department in Vermont, Huftalen said.

The e-mail contained a 62-page document "which can best be described as a book on how to kill government officials," he explained. It included chapters titled, "Fight for your freedom" and "Let's get lethal," and subchapters labeled "You can get away with murder," Huftalen said.

[Imalawman]

From the Union Leader story:

Wolffe, a tall, slender man with salt-and-pepper hair and mustache, sent an e-mail on Aug. 6 to his wife's work computer at the federal transportation department in Vermont, Huftalen said.

The e-mail contained a 62-page document "which can best be described as a book on how to kill government officials," he explained. It included chapters titled, "Fight for your freedom" and "Let's get lethal," and subchapters labeled "You can get away with murder," Huftalen said.

See now, that's just not smart. You're not going to get bail with that kind of stuff floating around. I'm just glad I don't have to defend him.

[ASITStands]

In regards to Mr. Wolffe, I am reminded of a quote from Moonstruck, "What are you stupid? Snap out of it!"

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

And, now it's, "The radio host made me do it! He's really a peaceful man. If only those radio hosts didn't incite him to violence and send him stupid manuals on killing people."

Some of this relates back to the general theory on what makes these people do these things and believe idiotic tax theories. It's got to be a mental disease somewhat akin to addiction.