Schaeffer Cox trial underway in Alaska

[Cathulhu]

Yeah, I didn't have time to hang around Alaska for it. Besides, it gets freakin' cold as of mid-September. The moisture freezes out of the air so much that static electricity is major. One guy I talked with swore he never kisses his wife from September to April because it zaps them both so badly.

[The Observer]

IIRC Vernon and Mrs Vernon still have to face another serious charge, something like threatening to kill a judge. Maybe I got muddled up over who was with Cox at one significant point.

The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that the Vernons are going to plead guilty to the threat charge.

[Famspear]

Yep. Excerpt from a Reuters news report:

An Alaska couple pleaded guilty on Monday [August 27, 2012] to charges of conspiring to kill a federal judge in what prosecutors said was a revenge plot over income-tax rulings against them.

Lonnie and Karen Vernon, followers of jailed Alaska militia leader Schaeffer Cox, reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid the need for a trial that had been set to begin next month.

[ . . . ]

The Vernons each entered a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to commit murder for their plan to kill Alaska-based U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline, who presided over a federal income tax case that ultimately cost the couple their home.

The Vernons also admitted in their plea agreement to planning to kill an Internal Revenue Service official and Beistline's daughter and grandchildren.....

from:

http://news.yahoo.com/alaska-couple-adm ... 52479.html

[Gregg]

Gee, what kind of deal do you get by copping to planning to kill a Federal Judge and his family?

Life without parole, but a really nice cell?

[notorial dissent]

It wasn't just a judge, it was his entire family, and that of an IRS agent who had mortally offended them it seemed.

And then he had the nerve to whine about why they were being treated the way they were.

This man, and his wife, were actively plotting and intending to kill someone, and took steps to do so, a judge, and his entire family, and he sees nothing wrong with this, and he is being picked on. I find this so disturbing on so many levels, and I would bet that he would also make the claim that he is a moral upright individual if asked. On the plus side, even with deal he got was basically life in prison for both of them.

[Judge Roy Bean]

I suspect they had seen the prosecution's recommended instructions to the jury.

There must have been an "overt act" in there somewhere - beyond the agreement to do it.

Any ideas on what that was?

[notorial dissent]

Uh, maybe it was going to Nome or wherever it was to buy a silencer, with an undercover agent along as a witness, just a WAG.

This wasn't some old windbag sitting running his mouth, he, at least at the start, had every intention of seeing it through. I don't know if he intended to be the triggerman, or was just getting the equipment, but I don't think it really makes much difference. He/they was actively plotting the death of someone.

[ArthurWankspittle]

I suspect they had seen the prosecution's recommended instructions to the jury.

There must have been an "overt act" in there somewhere - beyond the agreement to do it.

Any ideas on what that was?

I'm going for silencer and grenades purchase and what was said at the time, and address details of intended targets. With the added bonus of the "if we don't come back" letters and general sovereign gobbledegook spouting in various court hearings. He's going to be inside for 20+ years and she'll be lucky to get off with less than 15. His involvement with Cox will be on a par with a parking ticket in comparison. Sadly, I can't see him living long enough to ever see the outside of a jail.
Edit - I was wrong about the parking ticket bit, I'm still muddling up what I think should have happened as opposed to what did actually happen with the jury verdicts. Vernon is still awaiting how big a life sentence he's getting for being convicted along with Cox for conspiracy to murder federal officials. So this conviction at 21-27 years may actually be the lighter of the two conspiracy to murder sentences.

[ArthurWankspittle]

That reminds me:

Sentencing for Francis Schaeffer Cox is currently scheduled for November 13, 2012.

See docket entry 470, Aug. 9, 2012, United States v. Cox, case no. 3:11-cr-00022-RJB, U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska (Anchorage Div.).

when and why did this get moved from about 14th September? And are Vernon and Barney still due to be sentenced then or did theirs get moved too?

[Famspear]

Sentencings are currently scheduled as follows:

Coleman Barney: September 24, 2012;

Francis Schaeffer Cox: November 13, 2012;

Lonnie Vernon: November 14, 2012.

[Famspear]

On September 24, 2012, Coleman L. Barney was sentenced to five years in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons shows him as a 38 year old, inmate # 16177-006, with a projected release date of July 17, 2015. He currently shown as being "in transit".

[The Observer]

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-counter-defendant - Appellee,
v.
LONNIE G. VERNON; KAREN L. VERNON,
Defendants-counter-claimants-plaintiffs - Appellants.

Release Date: OCTOBER 16, 2012

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

D.C. No. 4:09-cv-00038-LRS

MEMORANDUM/*/

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Alaska
Lonny R. Suko, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted October 9, 2012/**/

Before: RAWLINSON, MURGUIA, and WATFORD, Circuit Judges.

Lonnie G. Vernon and Karen L. Vernon appeal pro se from the district court's summary judgment in the government's action to reduce unpaid tax assessments to judgment and to foreclose on federal tax liens on the Vernons' property. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. section 1291. We review de novo. Stead v. United States, 419 F.3d 944, 947 n.3 (9th Cir. 2005). We affirm.

The district court properly granted summary judgment because the Vernons failed to establish a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the government's assessments and all required notices were properly made. See Hansen v. United States, 7 F.3d 137, 138 (9th Cir. 1993) ("Form 4340 is probative evidence in and of itself and, in the absence of contrary evidence, is sufficient to establish that notices and assessments were properly made." (alteration, citation, and internal quotation marks omitted)). Accordingly, the district court properly concluded that the Vernons' property could be sold to satisfy their tax debt. See 26 U.S.C. section 7403(a).

The Vernons' contentions that the government lacks the authority to assess or collect taxes and their contentions concerning discovery are unpersuasive.

AFFIRMED.

/*/ This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedentexcept as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.

/**/ The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decisionwithout oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

[Cathulhu]

Did they base their contention on holding their hands over their ears and yelling "la, la, la we can't hear you!"?

[The Observer]

Did they base their contention on holding their hands over their ears and yelling "la, la, la we can't hear you!"?

Quite possibly, given the fact that they have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges, yet are still maintaining their nonsense about the government lacking authority to assess or collect taxes.

[Captain Crunch]

IMO, Shaeffer Cox sounds like a rabble rouser, maybe even a provacateur. But what do I know.

[Famspear]

Thirty-eight year old Coleman L. Barney is now inmate # 16177-006 at the Federal Correctional Institution at Lompoc, California, and is scheduled for release on July 17, 2015.

[Famspear]

Sentencing for Schaeffer Cox has been re-scheduled for January 7, 2013.

Sentencing for Lonnie Vernon has been re-scheduled for November 19, 2012.

[Famspear]

Sentencing for Schaeffer Cox has been re-set from Jan. 7 to Jan. 8, 2013.

[jcolvin2]

Sentencing for Schaeffer Cox has been re-set from Jan. 7 to Jan. 8, 2013.

Lonnie Vernon's sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2013.

[ArthurWankspittle]

Sentencing for Schaeffer Cox has been re-set from Jan. 7 to Jan. 8, 2013.

Lonnie Vernon's sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2013.

I'm still trying to find the definitive answer but I'm seeing reports of 25-26 years for Vernon.