Denny Ray Hardin, 52, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
“Hardin willfully ignored repeated warnings from officials that his worthless financial documents were fraudulent,” Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said. “Instead, he continued to cheat people with false promises of debt relief while he profited from their desperation.
“Today’s tough sentence sends a clear message that we will not tolerate such nonsense and will aggressively prosecute criminal behavior inspired by ‘sovereign citizen’ ideology,” Philips added. “Those who attempt to undermine the legitimate function of the government and the courts by filing frivolous legal and financial documents will be held accountable for their actions.”
On Sept. 14, 2011, Hardin was convicted at the conclusion of a bench trial. Hardin was found guilty of 11 counts of creating fictitious obligations and 10 counts of mail fraud.
Hardin produced and issued numerous ABonded Promissory Notes@ (BPNs), which are completely fictitious financial instruments that Hardin claimed to be backed by an account with the U.S. Department of Treasury. Hardin falsely claimed that he was authorized by the U.S. Department of Treasury to produce and issue the worthless documents, which he claimed had monetary value and could be used to eliminate debt.
“I believed I had the ability to do this,” Hardin said. “If I was trying to steal anything, I would have tried to take more than I did steal, supposedly.”
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
'Choose loss rather than shameful gains.' (Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
“I believed I had the ability to do this,” Hardin said. “If I was trying to steal anything, I would have tried to take more than I did steal, supposedly.”
He plans to appeal.
Must be pretty convenient when you get to self-define what does or doesn't constitute fraud.
I think this pretty much tells us what we need to know:
Hardin subscribes to a political view that the court lacked jurisdiction in his case and had no legal authority to judge him.
10 years without parole. Good. I hope he went straight from the court to the graybar hotel.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Robert Heinlein
Where he will undoubtedly start something equally sleazy.
The fact that you sincerely and wholeheartedly believe that the “Law of Gravity” is unconstitutional and a violation of your sovereign rights, does not absolve you of adherence to it.