Brown sentencing April 24th

[Demosthenes]

The government's sentencing memorandum:

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown167.pdf

[jkeeb]

I would sentence both to be parachuted into Waziristan so they could find out what it's like with no government.

[Demosthenes]

The probation officer recommended a guideline range of 51 to 63 months. The prosecutor is asking for 63 to 78 months for Elaine, and 70 to 87 months for Ed.


Most interesting sentence:

In addition, by retreating to their residence and repeatedly threatening violence against any lawful attempts to apprehend them, the defendants have put the government in a position where it has needed to develop special plans to take the defendants into custody and to develop and implement heightened security measures.

[.]

5 or 6 years sounds about right, except for the little refusal to surrender problem.

Were I the judge, there would be an additional, explicit price to be paid for acting like a child, and it would be measured in decades, the age of the idiot convicts notwithstanding.

[webhick]

andaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Eddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

What the hell? What have they been smoking at the court house?

Defendant Edward Brown has made numerous public statements in which he has made express or implicit violent threats against certain specific public officials and others he anticipates may try to apprehend him, requiring the government to develop and implement, at substantial expense to law abiding
federal taxpayers, special security plans and plans to apprehend defendants Elaine Brown and Edward Brown.
[Presentence Report, ¶ 30, Government’s supplemental
letter, dated April 13, 2007.]

Great, they just admitted they have plans. Now Ed & Elaine are going to start noticing when Monier says "no plans at this time"

Also, it looks like they're going for at least 87 and 78 months on Ed & Elaine, respectively...or am I reading that wrong? 6-7 1/4 years isn't that bad at their age. And they may not get handed more than that since they aren't spring chickens.

As a side note, this is entire thing is like they rolled all these really interesting bits of good Law & Order episodes into one exceptionally trite L&O Made-for-TV Movie. Starring Elizabeth Rohm

EDIT: Ha ha ha. I've got to start checking for replies right before I post mine... Just call me repeat.

[.]

Ed & Elaine are going to start noticing

It's actually unlikely that they will ever notice anything, since they seem to exist in some sort of alternate reality, much like Van Pelt. Ed's probably still waiting for a TP buddy to deliver an F-16 to his driveway so he can do battle.

Perhaps a net will be dropped over the entire house. Just kidding. I'm sure the feds, having had a couple of months to think it over, have figured out how they're going to end this embarrassing travesty.

[Demosthenes]

I am curious as to how the Browns are paying their food, cable, phone, gas, electric and water bills. I mean neither one is working and their accounts have probably been frozen.

Friends and supporters are coming and going at will, and Ed has bragged about having substantial amounts of cash at hand in the past, so my guess is money orders obtained by supporters or cash paid at the utility offices.

[LPC]

5 or 6 years sounds about right, except for the little refusal to surrender problem.

Is it possible for the judge to enter a conditional sentence, such as 6 years if they surrender peaceably, but 7 years if the marshals have to go and get them?

[Lambkin]

I am curious as to how the Browns are paying their food, cable, phone, gas, electric and water bills. I mean neither one is working and their accounts have probably been frozen.

Social Security checks?

[webhick]

I am curious as to how the Browns are paying their food, cable, phone, gas, electric and water bills. I mean neither one is working and their accounts have probably been frozen.

Social Security checks?

I guess the question now is, how is she cashing them? Is she signing over the check to one of their co-conspirators and they go out and cash it?

My sister did that with her boyfriend's business. Her boyfriend signed over all his checks to her and she cashed them for him. IRS nabbed her for the income.

[jg]

From page 9:

Defendant Elaine Brown forced to court to receive unemployment benefits a receptionist who could not continue to work for her after the former employer’s husband accidentally killed himself trying to replicate a gun trick he learned about at paramilitary training for which he was recruited, and which was sponsored by, defendant Edward Brown. Government’s April 13 letter.

What is that all about?
Was the former employee's husband killed trying a gun trick that he learned at a meeting that Ed Brown sponsored?

[Demosthenes]

04/23/2007 168 STIPULATION by USA as to Elaine A. Brown, Edward Lewis Brown re 166 Order,, Set Deadlines,. (Rabuck, Robert) (Entered: 04/23/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown168.pdf

04/23/2007 169 MOTION re 167 Sentencing Memorandum by USA as to Elaine A. Brown, Edward Lewis Brown (Attachments:, # 1 Reformatted Version of Sentencing Memorandum)(Morse, William) (Entered: 04/23/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown169-1.pdf
http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown169-2.pdf

[ElfNinosMom]

defendant Elaine Brown forced to court to receive
unemployment benefits a receptionist who could not
continue to work for her after the former employer’s
husband accidentally killed himself trying to replicate
a gun trick he learned about at paramilitary training
for which he was recruited, and which was sponsored by,
defendant Edward Brown. Government’s April 13 letter.

In connection with her request for post-conviction
release, defendant Elaine Brown advised this Court that
her son – who she had proposed as a potential third
party custodian – did not share her claimed beliefs
about the tax laws when in fact he apparently posted on
an internet bulletin board a message proclaiming her
views as correct and urging others to follow her and
defendant Edward Brown’s example. [Presentence Report,
Governme

It does look like the receptionist's husband killed himself accidentally because he foolishly listened to Ed Brown, and Elaine fought her on an unemployment claim when she was no longer able to work as a result of that incident. Wow, that's cold.

And apparently Elaine's son is a TP as well, and she lied to the court about it.

They're definitely pieces of work, no doubt about it.

[ElfNinosMom]

Any word on what actually happened at the sentencing hearing?

[LPC]

Any word on what actually happened at the sentencing hearing?

You mean the once scheduled for later today?

[Demosthenes]

Convicted tax evaders due in court Tuesday
By Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer | April 23, 2007

CONCORD, N.H. --Convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown are scheduled -- but not expected -- to be in federal court on Tuesday to learn their sentences.

The Browns were convicted in January of plotting to conceal their income and avoid paying federal income tax. They are holed up in their fortress-like compound in Plainfield and say they will stay there despite convictions or arrest warrants.

"I don't recognize these people. They don't exist. They're a corporation. They're a fiction in my life. This was my investigation into that," Brown about the government in a telephone interview on Monday. "I've concluded my investigation. I've found a criminal element within our administrative government acting in an unlawful due process of law."

The Browns, who have defended themselves through criticism of the government and conspiracy theories, stopped attending their trial halfway through it. Elaine Brown returned to court at the end and to be convicted; Ed Brown remained on their 110-acre hilltop retreat that features a watchtower that offers 360-degree views of the rural setting.

A jury decided in January the Browns engaged in a scheme to hide Elaine Brown's income of $1.9 million between 1996 and 2003. Jurors also found that over 10 years, the couple also used $215,890 of postal money orders -- broken into increments just below the reporting threshold -- to pay for their hilltop compound and for Elaine Brown's dental practice.

After the verdict, Elaine Brown was released to her son in Worcester, Mass., and promised the judge she would have no contact with her husband.

At the time, Brown said her husband's tactics weren't hers.

"It's not in my mind-set or my character (to join him)," she said. "I have no intention of returning (to the house) as long as he's there."

But she violated her bond agreement and returned to their Plainfield home.

"I don't want her to barricade herself with her husband up there," U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe said while debating whether to release her to her son or keep her in jail.

On Monday, Ed Brown said his wife, who earned most of the couple's income, wouldn't attend the proceedings on Tuesday.

"I speak for her. You speak to the head. You don't speak to the woman. That's the way it was until the last decade or so," Brown said.

Prosecutors are recommending sentences of more than six years each.

U.S. marshals have remained in contact with the Browns. Videos of their conversations were posted on the Internet, where fervent supporters pledged to defend the Browns. One online writer wondered if Plainfield would be the next Waco.

Brown, a former militiaman who carries a gun, told reporters in January he expected federal agents to attack him any time. He gave up part of his weapons cache before the trial began, but either restocked or hid part from authorities who inspected the house.

Brown also says snipers were in the woods around his house and he was under surveillance.

Officials dismissed the suspicions. Negotiators said they have no plans to attack Brown's home, which has concrete walls and can run on wind and solar power. Brown said he has a stock of food and supplies.

But prosecutors say the government has a plan in place.

"By returning to their residence and repeatedly threatening violence against any lawful attempts to apprehend them, the defendants have put the government in a position where it has needed to develop special plans to take the defendants into custody and to develop and implement heightened security measures," prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

[.]

I don't recognize these people. They don't exist. They're a corporation. They're a fiction in my life. This was my investigation into that

Shades of Van Pelt.

[Demosthenes]

Tax-evaders face sentencing
But Browns say they will not be in court

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff

April 24. 2007 8:00AM

Ed and Elaine Brown could face more than seven and six years in prison each if the judge agrees with prosecutors' recommendations at the couple's sentencing hearings today in federal court.

The Browns were convicted in January of conspiring to defraud the government, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising large financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements. Elaine Brown, whose West Lebanon dental practice generated the couple's income, was also convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion and failure to withhold employment taxes.

At trial, the couple admitted that they did not pay any income taxes for more than 10 years, but they claimed that there was no law that made them liable for the taxes.

The Browns, who have been holed up in their fortified Plainfield home for months, are not expected to attend today's hearing. Yesterday, Elaine Brown refused to answer questions about the hearing, but in many previous statements, the Browns have made clear that they intend to stay home until law enforcement officials come to arrest them.

A sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors this weekend argues that the Browns' sentences should be elevated above the standard for their crimes because their conduct has disrupted government functions and because they have committed additional crimes since they became fugitives. It also lists factors that it says are relevant to the Browns' sentencing, such as their previous unwillingness to pay property taxes, their threats against federal officials and their encouragement of others to break the law.

"By retreating to their residence and repeatedly threatening violence against any lawful attempts to apprehend them, the defendants have put the government in a position where it has needed to develop special plans to take the defendants into custody and to develop and implement heightened security measures," says the memorandum, which is signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse.

The government has asked for a sentence of 78 months or more for Elaine Brown and 87 months or more for Ed Brown. Those numbers represent the maximum penalties under the sentencing guidelines, even with the enhancements detailed in the memo. But Judge Steven McAuliffe has the authority to give the Browns longer sentences.

The 22-page memorandum also includes some details from the Browns' history that were not revealed at trial. Several years ago, the report says, Ed Brown taught a paramilitary survivalist course out of his home. The husband of Elaine's receptionist took the course, attempted to replicate a gun trick Brown taught him, and accidentally shot and killed himself, the memo says. Elaine Brown fought the receptionist's attempt to claim unemployment benefits when she could not work after the accident, Morse said.

The document also says that the Browns had routinely ignored laws requiring building permits, firearm licensing and dog licensing.

The Browns will be sentenced separately, and the hearings will likely take place even if the couple do not appear in court. Elaine Brown's hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m.; Ed Brown's is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

On their daily internet radio show yesterday on the Republic Broadcasting Network, the Browns would not answer a caller's questions about the sentencing hearings, but they said they've decided to ignore the court process.

"Our position will be that no matter what they say we will no longer pay attention to them," Ed Brown said, adding that the couple have been returning all the mail they've received from the government.

That position differs from the Browns' stance earlier this month, when they filed several documents with the court. In one pair of filings that has since been rejected by the judge, the couple asserted that they were "the court" and instructed the clerk to close their case. In separate filings, the couple also requested free trial transcripts, claiming that they are indigent.

According to the sentencing memo, the Browns also recently wrote to the court to respond to sentencing recommendations made by the probation report. Neither the probation report nor the Browns' reply is a public record, but the government memo quotes the Browns' response. According to the memo, they wrote that they had only read a few pages of the report but found it "so filled with misrepresentations, untruths, and presumptions, that, even if (they) cared to respond to all these items, (they) would not know where to begin."

Steven Monier, the U.S. marshal charged with arresting the Browns, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But he has said repeatedly over the last few months that he has no plans to raid the Browns' home to arrest them. In previous interviews, he has said that the couple's sentencing will not alter his office's strategy.

[.]

claiming that they are indigent

Not yet, but soon. Can't be soon enough.

[webhick]

No word yet ENM, but today's Concord Monitor has a story about it. Confirmed what we thought about the unemployment:

http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /704240314

The chronology linked at the bottom of the article is uninteresting and doesn't really say much.

Edit: Removed the Concord Monitor story. Demo beat me to it and I don't want to clutter up the board posting it twice.