Kelton - False 8300 Reports Conviction

[Joey Smith]

1
United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut
District of Oregon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bud Fitzgerald
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2007 PHONE: (541) 465-6846
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/or FAX: (503) 727-1117
JURY FINDS “SOVEREIGN” GUILTY OF FILING BOGUS DOCUMENTS WITH IRS
Seventh Oregonian to be Convicted of this Crime in 2007
MEDFORD, Ore. – Steven Dale Kelton, 51, of Central Point, Oregon, was convicted on
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, of twenty counts of filing a false tax document under penalty of perjury.
The guilty verdicts came after a one-day trial and forty minutes of jury deliberation.
United States District Court Judge Owen M. Panner set Kelton’s sentencing for October
15, 2007 and ordered that he remain in custody in the meantime. Kelton faces up to three years
in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conviction. His trial on unrelated conspiracy
charges is set for October 2 in Medford.
In 2001, Kelton filed false Forms 8300, “Report of Cash Payments Received in a Trade
or Business,” with the IRS, alleging that various lawyers, bank employees, power company
representatives and Jackson County officials had engaged in suspicious cash transactions in
amounts ranging from $100,000 to $500,000,000. On several of the forms, Kelton marked a
“suspicious transaction” block, attempting to trigger an IRS audit.
Kelton had been out of custody in this case following his first court appearance last
November. At a pretrial hearing on July 30, Kelton was taken into custody after refusing to
recognize the court’s jurisdiction. At trial, Kelton represented himself but the court appointed
his former attorney, Shaun McCrea, to serve as standby counsel. Kelton declined to question
witnesses, argue to the jury or respond to the judge’s questions.
Kelton, a self-described “sovereign,” is the seventh Oregonian this year to be convicted
of filing fraudulent cash transaction reports with the IRS. Last January, a jury found a Medford
man, Kenneth Eugene Bozarth, 61, guilty of filing four such reports under penalty of perjury.
Bozarth was represented by Medford attorney David Orf.
This case was investigated by agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal
Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
For additional information, please contact Assistant United States Attorney William E.
(Bud) Fitzgerald at 541-465-6846.

[Dezcad]

....and forty minutes of jury deliberation.

Kelton declined to question
witnesses, argue to the jury or respond to the judge’s questions.

The jury must have taken 30 minutes for lunch during their deliberations.

[Demosthenes]

Kelton is a Barton Buhtz co-defendant.

viewtopic.php?t=1097

[Cobalt Shiva]

Barton Buhtz--is that REALLY the guy's name?

[Demosthenes]

I shit you not.