Tony and Micaela Dutson

[johnnyrie]

Dutson's Oregonian story is as follows:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/inde ... husba.html

Lots of action in the Northwest lately.

[Judge Roy Bean]

That part of the country has been a hotbed of whackomania for a long time.

[Cathulhu]

That part of the country has been a hotbed of whackomania for a long time.

Yeah, but the worst is around Idaho.

[johnnyrie]

The Northwest does seem especially active. Reports are the white powder incidents were related to "anti-government threats", which taken in conjunction with the fact they were sent to IRS offices along with the FBI and US Attorney's offices in the Northwest...boy I wonder if the perpetrators pay their taxes?

[johnnyrie]

Actually life does not suck! Life is good. Or it can be if you don't dwell on the things beyond your control. It's the psychology that amazes me - that because I don't agree, that I am moral, or god-fearing, that the rules of society do not apply to me. Seems like a wife, or a husband in the case of the Dutsons, would be able to say "listen honey, your little grudge rabbit hole is bankrupting our family and maybe leaving our kids parent-less, how's about you go get a job." More of a problem, I would think, in most paternally dominated defier families.

[The Observer]

Former Tigard Lawyer, Husband Will Serve 10 Years for Tax Schemes That Hid $7 million from IRS

Oregonian (Portland, OR)
March 8, 2011

By Helen Jung

March 08--For a decade, Tony and Micaela Dutson waged a "crusade" against the Internal Revenue Service, prosecutors said -- hiding their income, failing to file tax returns and retaliating with lawsuits and liens against investigators who pursued them.

Even more, the husband and wife recruited clients through Micaela Dutson's law practice in Tigard, helping create elaborate schemes to shield their assets and avoid paying taxes to the federal government to the tune of nearly $7 million over 10 years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

And Monday, nine months after a jury convicted them for defrauding the government and other charges, a federal judge in Portland sentenced the Dutsons to 10 years in prison each. The two, who moved to Arizona in 2003, were ordered to return to Oregon in two weeks and start serving their sentences on May 23.

"All of the Dutsons' criminal behavior for which they've been convicted beyond a reasonable doubt is the epitome of disrespect of the law," said U.S. District Judge Anna Brown. "The sheer number of criminal acts here is broader and more far reaching than any I've seen in this context.

"This wasn't just a conspiracy to defraud the United States of its authority to collect taxes through deceitful and dishonest means," the judge said, "but it was a campaign that went on for years and accelerated and morphed... in a variety of illegal tactics all intended to accomplish the same goal."

The Dutsons helped about 150 clients, primarily from the West Coast, to evade taxes through programs they set up, said Hannah Horsley, an assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case.

Those included trusts used to hide assets from the IRS and other tax-shelter schemes. They also tried to pass off fictitious financial instruments to satisfy back taxes for themselves and other clients and encouraged others to view themselves as "sovereign citizens" who didn't have to answer to tax laws.

While some clients shared the Dutsons' anti-tax sentiment, others trusted the couple and simply were following their advice, Horsley said. Micaela Dutson resigned from the Oregon State Bar in 2002.

Both Dutsons apologized before Brown sentenced them. Micaela Dutson's attorney, Whitney Boise, said his client was overly influenced by "fervent believers" whose teachings compromised her ability to make good decisions.

Micaela Dutson, 48, sobbing throughout her short address to the court, promised she would never engage in such activity again.

"I have learned one thing for sure," she said. "No matter what kind of information I hear or see on the Internet, I'm not going to act on it. That's for sure, because I don't ever want to be here again because this is the worst thing ever."

Tony Dutson, 53, offered an apology to those who may have been hurt, saying "it was never intended to be what it is today."

But the judge said their apologies seemed to be motivated by a fear of imprisonment, not remorse.

In addition to the 10-year sentences for causing clients to use fictitious financial instruments to pay taxes, Brown sentenced the Dutsons to concurrent terms for other charges, including conspiracy to defraud the IRS, obstructing the IRS, failing to file tax returns and aiding and advising a client to file a false tax return.

The U.S. Attorney's Office estimates the couple made more than $1 million from their tax-evasion services.

-- Helen Jung

[Famspear]

From the report:

.......Both Dutsons apologized before Brown sentenced them. Micaela Dutson's attorney, Whitney Boise, said his client was overly influenced by "fervent believers" whose teachings compromised her ability to make good decisions.

Micaela Dutson, 48, sobbing throughout her short address to the court, promised she would never engage in such activity again.

"I have learned one thing for sure," she said. "No matter what kind of information I hear or see on the Internet, I'm not going to act on it. That's for sure, because I don't ever want to be here again because this is the worst thing ever.".......

That's pretty pathetic.

She was a big girl -- legal education and everything -- and she went and on for years, and did all this to herself. And now, finally, after all that, she has .... an epiphany! She hears the thunderbolt! She sees the flash of light! She comes to a realization in an event similar what Jules, the Samuel L. Jackson character in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, describes as a "Moment of Clarity".

[Prof]

That part of the country has been a hotbed of whackomania for a long time.

Some wag remarked that the literal translation of "Coeur d'Laine" was: "Nazis, 9 miles North."

[Prof]

It's Coeur d'Alene

Should have checked.

[grixit]

So why do they get 6 weeks before starting their sentences?

[Famspear]

So why do they get 6 weeks before starting their sentences?

Last chance for both of them to have hetero sex?

Wait. These two people are married to each other. Normally, that means they don't have sex anymore, right?

[webhick]

So why do they get 6 weeks before starting their sentences?

Last chance for both of them to have hetero sex?

Wait. These two people are married to each other. Normally, that means they don't have sex anymore, right?

CKB never said that the sex was with each other.

[Demosthenes]

So why do they get 6 weeks before starting their sentences?

Good question, Grixit.

Ore. couple convicted of tax fraud on the run
May 18, 2011, 7:21 p.m. PDT
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal and local authorities are looking for a husband and wife duo convicted of tax fraud last year after they took off their electronic monitors late last month.

Police say that 53-year-old Tony Dutson and 48-year-old Micaela Renee Dutson were sentenced in March to 10 years of federal prison for tax fraud, but were released and an electronic monitoring system was placed on them.

Authorities say they took it off on April 29. They are now considered fugitives.

Police say the two have connections to Arizona and Oregon.

[Judge Roy Bean]

Tony-Stewart: Dutson has been thumbing his nose at the law for a very, very long time and this disappearance should not be a surprise.

[ArthurWankspittle]

What are they likely to get extra to the 10 years for running off? A serious question, because I would have thought it is good for several more years consecutive with the original sentence; putting him nearly 70 before he gets out of jail and her into her 60's.

[Famspear]

Here's another report:

http://www.kval.com/news/local/122172774.html

[Demosthenes]

They were caught.

http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story_2 ... 9881599700

Excerpt:

The two were ordered to turn themselves in on May 23, but when the couple didn’t show up, the U.S. Marshals Service began a nationwide search.

Prosecutors say the two cut off their electronic monitoring bracelets and fled to Arizona.

Investigators found the two in Phoenix, Ariz., where they were arrested June 10.

The couple face an additional 10 years in prison and a $250,000 for failing to show up at prison.

[Joey Smith]

Let's see, after cutting off their ankle bracelets, any bets on whether they get bail?

[Demosthenes]

Judge adds 18 months to their 10-year sentences.

http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Lo ... ison-terms

[grixit]

And no credit for time served.