Brown supporters sentencing

[Demosthenes]

Mrs. W., were you aware of the reason why Reno had you on his witness list in June?

g. Valerie Wolffe identified in the Out of State Witnesses as #11 is self explanatory. She is the wife of co-defendant, Robert Wolffe, who has plead guilty in this matter. Her testimony will indicate that she had visited the Brown’s on a number of occasions in the company of her husband and the circumstances surrounding that involvement. It is reasonably anticipated that she will provide testimony of an impeaching nature with respect to Robert Wolffe’s testimony in the governments’s use in chief.

[SheWolffe]

By the way, I want to just make clear that I think the fact that you've been threatened is disgusting and certainly hope that you remain safe. I didn't mean to imply the opposite.

Oh, I hadn't thought that at all. Like I said, it's been along year.

Mrs. W., were you aware of the reason why Reno had you on his witness list in June?

For the second trial? I did not know I was on the list. I am a bit surprised, I had a conniption the last time I got called by Reno's lawyer. I told him that I don't know Reno and do not understand how my attendance could have any impact. I would have probably made a scene on the stand like pass out. No kidding.

[wserra]

It's been a very long year.

I have seen how frequently it is not the defendants themselves who go through the greatest hell in situations like this. After all, they brought it on themselves, and sometimes actually understand this. The real victims are often the defendants' family members, at least those who love them regardless of what they did.

All the best.

[SheWolffe]

I have seen how frequently it is not the defendants themselves who go through the greatest hell in situations like this. After all, they brought it on themselves, and sometimes actually understand this. The real victims are often the defendants' family members, at least those who love them regardless of what they did.

All the best.

Thanks. I've had moments of great anger and much sorrow over this. In the beginning, my phone rang day and night. People giving advice. People with empty promises to help. Media people who wanted my opinions. One man called me repeatedly asking that Bob not plea out and stay in jail for another two years while he and his friends work up the case (who are these people)? He had some basketball star ready to sign a petition, like that had any bearing. I said to him that I'd lose my home over this and his answer to me was "Well, you understand that you will need to make some sacrifices". I told him that Bob was not his soapbox, he was an idiot and to stop calling me. The nerve. Our own local bank wrote a letter to the judge to help us. That was a profound statement as to our character. It established our belonging to the community and our commitment to our obligations. Also, it was evidence that our own bank knows us personally and we are not scary gun crazy monsters like the media has enjoyed plastering across the newspapers. I'd much rather depend on the reputation of my bank then some lunatic from Chicago and an unknown basketball star. What a dope.

[.]

There's just nothing like poor choices and/or bad luck. So it goes.

[Demosthenes]

Also, it was evidence that our own bank knows us personally and we are not scary gun crazy monsters like the media has enjoyed plastering across the newspapers.

I'm afraid you rather did that to yourselves. Combine the fact that your husband had all of the Constipation Rangers stuff on his website with that Mark Koernke radio interview you gave when Bob was arrested, and you've got a sure fire recipe for gun crazy monsters.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

One man called me repeatedly asking that Bob not plea out and stay in jail for another two years while he and his friends work up the case (who are these people)? He had some basketball star ready to sign a petition, like that had any bearing. I said to him that I'd lose my home over this and his answer to me was "Well, you understand that you will need to make some sacrifices". I told him that Bob was not his soapbox, he was an idiot and to stop calling me.

I guess they wanted you to take one for the team.



Best of luck.

[The Observer]

There's just nothing like poor choices and/or bad luck. So it goes.

Except that bad luck is not something for which you can hold someone accountable.

I told him that Bob was not his soapbox, he was an idiot and to stop calling me.

It was probably at this point where everything had become crystal clear for you in terms of understanding the sheer lunacy of the tax protest movement and its members.

I said to him that I'd lose my home over this and his answer to me was "Well, you understand that you will need to make some sacrifices".

Ever notice how these paytriots never seem to be the ones making the same type of sacrifices that they think you should be making? I often wonder if this thought has crossed the minds of Al Thompson and Richard Simkanin while sitting in their prison cells.

[wserra]

Ever notice how these paytriots never seem to be the ones making the same type of sacrifices that they think you should be making?

A line I've used several times in appropriate summations: "The human mind can withstand almost limitless amounts of pain - so long as that pain is in someone else's body."

[wserra]

I told him that Bob was not his soapbox, he was an idiot and to stop calling me.

Be charitable. He was probably only an idiot on his good days.

[.]

Except that bad luck is not something for which you can hold someone accountable.

I didn't say that anyone could.

Let me be more explicit. There's nothing like total stupidity. Forget luck, I was being charitable.

[webhick]

Constipation Rangers

My evil plan is coming to fruition.

[SheWolffe]

I'm afraid you rather did that to yourselves. Combine the fact that your husband had all of the Constipation Rangers stuff on his website with that Mark Koernke radio interview you gave when Bob was arrested, and you've got a sure fire recipe for gun crazy monsters.

Touche Demosthenes, I deserved that and I know it. That radio show was such a sham, I understand now that I was used as the evening's 'main event'. They got a rush out of reporting all this and I was taken advantage of.

And yes, I do understand how skewed things had become.

Constipation Rangers - what a joke. The one thing I do know now, if Bob ever wants to be a member of another club, I'm going to suggest he join a bowling league!

[Demosthenes]

Koernke had gotten out of federal prison about five months prior to your phonecall after serving a lonnngggg prison sentence. Let's just say he's not an expert in dealing with federal law enforcement in any productive way...

[SheWolffe]

I never even knew their names. They got what they wanted - a little excitement to boost their little club. At my expense. That call cost me (and Bob) dearly.

[grixit]

It may be too late to use the innocent spouse defense, but i hope you have competent advice about keeping what you have left secure and maintaining yourself in your husband's absence. Good luck.

[SheWolffe]

It may be too late to use the innocent spouse defense, but i hope you have competent advice about keeping what you have left secure and maintaining yourself in your husband's absence. Good luck.

No, I wouldn't try that. I know I can't change what has happened. I certainly hope that it will be over for Bob soon so we can jumpstart on our lives, jobs, retirement. I am on pins and needles waiting for tomorrow to get over with. Things will be different. Life is too precious and short to waste time chasing stupid sh*t around.

[Demosthenes]

Brown supporter faces steep sentence
Could be 10 years; judge decides today

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff

July 31, 2008 - 12:00 am

A former college student and Army enlistee may face more than 10 years in prison for helping fugitives Ed and Elaine Brown escape justice during the couple's prolonged standoff with federal agents.

A pre-sentencing memorandum prepared by probation officers has recommended a sentence ranging from nine years, nine months to 10 years, 11 months for Jason Gerhard, 22, of Brookhaven, N.Y., according court documents. Prosecutors in the case are seeking a significantly longer sentence. Gerhard's lawyers have asked the judge for a sentence of seven years in prison.

Gerhard will be sentenced today, as will Robert Wolffe of Randolph, Vt., a co-defendant who cooperated with prosecutors and testified at Gerhard's trial. Court documents related to Wolffe's sentence recommendation were not publicly available yesterday, though some were filed and marked as sealed. Wolffe is likely to get a shorter sentence than Gerhard. He pleaded guilty to three felonies and testified at trial that a sentence as short as eight months could be possible.

The Browns were convicted of tax-related crimes but refused to surrender, holing up in their fortified Plainfield home and threatening violence against federal agents for nearly nine months. They were arrested in October by a team of undercover U.S. marshals posing as supporters. When agents searched their home, they found it stuffed with dozens of bombs and guns. Wolffe and Gerhard were two of four prominent supporters of the couple who were charged and convicted of crimes related to the standoff.

A jury found that Gerhard helped the Browns escape capture and brought them guns to prolong the standoff. He was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to impede federal agents, accessory after the fact and possessing or carrying weapons in connection with a crime of violence. The last count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, in addition to any penalties for the first three charges.

Though Wolffe testified that he carried and used guns on the Brown property, he was not charged with a weapons charge. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and accessory charges similar to Gerhard's.

Gerhard, who began visiting the Browns' Plainfield home in early 2007 to do research for his community college newspaper, returned often and spent several weeks there during the summer, testimony at his trial established. Other Brown supporters described Gerhard as polite and helpful - several said they remember him washing dishes or offering food to police officers. But law enforcement figures who clashed with Gerhard in New Hampshire testified that he was threatening and aggressive.

In a motion asking for a longer sentence, prosecutors emphasized the real possibility for harm posed by the Brown standoff.

"This case involved coordinated acts, committed over a substantial period of time by a number of self-aggrandizing individuals who, among other things, obtained numerous firearms, assault weapons and explosives devices; and made direct threats to use the weapons to kill or seriously injure any law enforcement officer who attempted to arrest Edward and Elaine Brown," says the motion, penned by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arnold Huftalen and Robert Kinsella.

Their motion asks for upward departures under the federal sentencing guidelines, citing Gerhard's use of a weapon and allegations that he disrupted government functions and obstructed justice. The motion also argues for additional sentence enhancements beyond those guidelines.

Gerhard was arrested in September at a Missouri Army base where he was undergoing basic training. His lawyers, arguing for a sentence lower than the probation recommendation, wrote that the sentence should reflect the fact that there was never any violence at the Browns' home. Though Gerhard did supply weapons to the couple, they wrote, they were never used.

The other two men charged with Wolffe and Gerhard are likely to be sentenced this fall. Cirino Gonzalez of Alice, Texas, has a sentencing hearing scheduled for late September. He was convicted of a conspiracy charge and as an accessory, but prosecutors dropped two other charges after the jury failed to reach a verdict. Daniel Riley of Cohoes, N.Y., is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to determine his competency to participate in his sentencing hearing. The examination is expected to take about a month. Riley faces the longest prison sentence of the group. He was convicted of five felonies, including one for handling destructive devices, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years.

The Browns are currently serving 63-month sentences for their tax crimes. They have not yet been charged in connection with the standoff.

[wserra]

Bonus (a guess on my part), if he has served his full time, no parole, no checking in regularly with his probie, he will be over, done and free.

Not likely. Incarceration and supervised release are separate parts of a sentence, and I don't see a judge imposing no SR (or probation, if the sentence is time served) at all.

[Demosthenes]

I think 8 to 10 months is unlikely as well.