Brown sentencing April 24th

[webhick]

From today's Concord Monitor (http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /704250341):

Plainfield tax case

Browns get five years
Couple claim they don't have to pay

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
April 25. 2007 8:00AM

A federal judge sentenced tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown to more than five years in prison yesterday, giving them sentences at the top of the range recommended by probation officers but below sentencing recommendations offered by the prosecutor.

The couple did not attend the hearing, and Ed Brown refused to recognize the sentence or the federal court that issued it.

"I've been convicted of crimes?" he asked in a phone interview yesterday.

The couple have been holed up in their fortified Plainfield home for several months, saying that any attempts to arrest them will trigger a violent confrontation with federal officials.

The Browns were convicted in January of conspiring to defraud the government, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising large financial transactions. Elaine Brown, whose West Lebanon dental practice earned the couple's income, was also convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion and failure to withhold employment taxes. The government calculated the couple's unpaid tax bill at roughly $750,000.

The Browns, who maintain that federal income tax laws don't apply to them, argued during their trial that the laws were invalid. Midway through the trial, the Browns stopped attending the proceedings. Ed Brown issued internet and radio statements that the situation might turn into "another Waco" and urged armed supporter to help him resist capture. In 1993, a standoff between the Branch Davidian religious sect and federal officers near Waco, Texas, resulted in 80 deaths, including those of four law enforcement agents.

Elaine Brown returned to court several days later and was released into the custody of a son in Massachusetts on the condition that she not return to her husband.

But a few weeks after the guilty verdict, she violated the terms of her release and joined Ed Brown in Plainfield. On a daily internet radio show and in sporadic blog posts and news interviews, the couple have challenged the validity of their convictions and the jurisdiction of the court, and they have issued threats against the judge, prosecutor and other federal officials.

Yesterday, it appeared that the U.S. marshals took those threats seriously. More than a dozen marshals were positioned around the courtroom during the sentencing. Others stood at patrols around the Concord courthouse during the day. Several of the marshals said they were brought in from out of state to work the hearings.

"We have concerns," U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said at a press conference after the sentences were announced. "We're genuinely concerned because of their use of the internet, the blogs and some of the statements the Browns have made."

Judge Stephen McAuliffe rejected attempts by the prosecutor to boost the couple's sentences outside of the range recommended by probation officers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse argued that both Browns' sentences could be increased under federal sentencing guidelines because they had disrupted government functions and committed further crimes as fugitives. He also asked the judge to depart from the guidelines altogether because of the unusual circumstances surrounding their convictions.

"The defendants are thumbing their noses at the rule of law every step of the way," Morse said.

McAulliffe handed down nearly identical sentences. Both Ed and Elaine Brown were sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The conditions of their supervised release require them to immediately file accurate tax returns for the years of their crimes and to comply with any payment plan required by the IRS.

The judge also finalized an order requiring the Browns to forfeit part of their interest in their home and office building found to be related to their crimes. The couple can satisfy that requirement by paying the total judgment, about $215,000.

During the trial, Elaine Brown turned down a plea deal that would have included a two-year prison sentence.

McAuliffe said the Browns' sentences were appropriate, given that they had been convicted of "garden variety" tax crimes, but he noted that they might face additional prison sentences if they were charged and convicted of the other crimes Morse described.

During the sentencings, Morse mentioned the Browns' destruction of Elaine Brown's electronic monitoring bracelet as a federal felony and also referred to threats against court officials, another federal crime.

Morse did not answer reporters' questions yesterday, but in a phone interview on Monday he said he could not comment on whether his office planned to charge the Browns over those allegations.

The Browns have 10 days to appeal their convictions. It is unclear whether they will. Shortly after the jury verdict in January, the couple attempted to file an appeal, but it was rejected as premature. In recent statements, the Browns have said that they will no longer receive mail from the court or file any documents. Joe Haas, a friend from Gilmanton Iron Works, said that Ed Brown told him yesterday that he would not file an appeal.

"Ed says he doesn't care. He doesn't acknowledge them. It's all a fiction," Haas said.

In a phone interview yesterday, Brown did not answer questions about his appeal, but he questioned whether the judge's ruling applied to him.

"Who's he?" Brown asked. "What's he? Part of the corporation of the United States? That has nothing to do with me. I'm a natural living soul."

Monier, the U.S. marshal, said his office's strategy has not changed as a result of the sentences. He said his staff will continue to communicate with the Browns and will not initiate a siege or standoff at their home.

"We're just not going to engage in that kind of game with them," he said.

In a letter he sent to the couple yesterday, he urged the Browns to turn themselves in.

"We have, and will continue to take, all reasonable steps to resolve this peacefully," he wrote.

Monier did say that his office will take action against Brown supporters who bring weapons to the Plainfield house or otherwise provide "assistance, aid, or comfort to the Browns in their continuing efforts to obstruct justice and avoid apprehension."

Since Ed Brown stopped attending his trial, he has been visited by a number of supporters who have brought food, weapons and technical assistance to him, and later to Elaine. Monier did not say whether friends who brought food might be subject to prosecution, but he did say visiting would be allowed.

"It's got to be a little bit more than just, 'Let's go out and say hi to Ed and Elaine today,' " Monier said.

About 15 supporters either attended the hearings or demonstrated outside the courthouse yesterday. Most said they were not surprised by the outcome.

"The whole thing was unfair, so it's still unfair," said Bernie Bastian of Weare, a close friend of Ed Brown's who attended every day of the trial. Bastian waited outside the courthouse yesterday because he said that he did not want to recognize the court's jurisdiction over his friend.

"I expected them to do wrong, and they met my expectation," he said.

By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ
Monitor staff

[Demosthenes]

Couple facing jail for tax evasion
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
10 hours, 20 minutes ago

CONCORD – Anti-tax crusaders Edward L. and Elaine A. Brown remained holed up in their fortress-like Plainfield home yesterday while a federal judge sentenced them to more than five years in prison and ordered them to begin repaying the estimated $750,000 they owe in income taxes.

Amid heavy courthouse security in the wake of threats posted on Internet Web sites and blogs by supporters of the couple's cause, Judge Steven J. McAuliffe also ordered the couple to forfeit to the federal government a total $215,890 in postal money-order purchases they made in order to avoid federal income-reporting requirements

The Browns, who attended neither hearing and were sentenced to 63 months in prison in absentia, were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service, which said it continues to speak with the couple regularly in an effort to resolve the matter peacefully.

"We encourage them to do the right thing. The right thing is to surrender," said Stephen R. Monier, U.S. Marshal for New Hampshire.

Noting the Browns have weapons and "hazardous conditions" on their property -- and that they have said they will greet any attempt to serve them with outstanding arrest warrants with violence, -- Monier held fast to his strategy not to engage the couple in a standoff.

"In this case, we think patience is a virtue," Monier said at a news conference.

But Monier warned anyone found providing "assistance, aid or comfort" to the Browns' efforts to escape justice will be subject to arrest and prosecution.

Supplying weapons and ammunition to the couple is a felony offense, he said. And any threats made against government officials will be investigated fully, Monier added.

Elaine Brown, 65, who ran a private dental practice, and her husband, a retired exterminator, have not filed federal income tax returns since 1996, claiming there is no law requiring them to pay federal income taxes.

A jury convicted them Jan. 18 of conspiracy to defraud the federal government, structuring, and conspiracy to structure financial transactions by plotting to hide their income and avoid taxes on Elaine Brown's income of $1.9 million between 1996 and 2003.

The jury also found the couple conspired to buy a total $215,890 in postal money orders in amounts just below the $3,000 threshold that would have required them to comply with federal income reporting requirements. That amount includes $42,840 used to make mortgage payments on their office building at 27 Glen Road in West Lebanon and $27,997 used to make payments on their Plainfield home, court records show.

Elaine Brown also was convicted of 14 additional counts for tax evasion, failure to collect employment taxes and structuring.

"They have no faith in the court system and they figure anything they say wouldn't help," said Lauren Canario of Winchester, who spoke with the Browns Monday night of their decision not to attend yesterday's hearing.

Canario, a member of the Free State Project who moved from Las Vegas, Nev., to Winchester, has been delivering groceries to the couple's Plainfield home so they do not have to venture outside.

Kath Kanning, another Free Stater who moved to Keene from Texas, said Edward Brown, 63, told her he remains in his home so "it would be clear, if he started shooting, that he would be defending himself. But if he went into town, it wouldn't be so clear."

One outstanding arrest warrant charges Edward Brown with failure to appear in court after he stopped showing up for his trial on Jan. 12. An arrest warrant was issued for his wife Feb. 21 after she violated her bail conditions and returned to the Plainfield home. Once arrested on the federal warrants, the couple will go directly to prison, Monier said.

"These warrants are not going to go away, and neither is law enforcement," Monier wrote the Browns in a letter yesterday.

"They have indicated there will be a violent confrontation if we showed up to serve the warrants. We're just not going to engage in that type of game," he explained, adding "We're not there now."

"They've said all along 'We're not leaving.' And, you know what? We believe them. We know exactly where they are," Monier said.

McAuliffe ordered the couple to file "true and actual" income tax returns for the years 1996 through 2003 within 60 days and abide by any tax repayment schedule established by the IRS.

Prosecuting attorney Morse said unpaid taxes owed by the Browns were estimated at trial at $750,000.

He said this number does not include the 2004 and 2005 tax years.

Elaine Brown also was ordered to pay the court a $1,700 fine and her husband to pay a $300 fine.

Morse also said Elaine Brown caused more than $1,000 damage to her electronic ankle bracelet when she made it "permanently inoperable," which is a felony offense.

[Disilloosianed]

Monier, the U.S. marshal, said his office's strategy has not changed as a result of the sentences. He said his staff will continue to communicate with the Browns and will not initiate a siege or standoff at their home.

"We're just not going to engage in that kind of game with them," he said.

In a letter he sent to the couple yesterday, he urged the Browns to turn themselves in.

"We have, and will continue to take, all reasonable steps to resolve this peacefully," he wrote.

I can only hope this means that they are planning to storm the house at some point with about 100 men and not that they are going to continue a letter-writing campaign. I mean, for Pete's sake, we took a Cuban kid out of a closet at gunpoint. He hadn't threatened judges or anything.

[Imalawman]

Monier, the U.S. marshal, said his office's strategy has not changed as a result of the sentences. He said his staff will continue to communicate with the Browns and will not initiate a siege or standoff at their home.

"We're just not going to engage in that kind of game with them," he said.

In a letter he sent to the couple yesterday, he urged the Browns to turn themselves in.

"We have, and will continue to take, all reasonable steps to resolve this peacefully," he wrote.

I can only hope this means that they are planning to storm the house at some point with about 100 men and not that they are going to continue a letter-writing campaign. I mean, for Pete's sake, we took a Cuban kid out of a closet at gunpoint. He hadn't threatened judges or anything.

I agree. At some point the court's rulings have to be respected. People have to know that you can't just hole up in your mansion and give the finger to the rule of law. I agree that a certain modicum of patience is warranted in light of the disasters at Waco and Ruby Ridge. But there comes a time for a show of force. That time is rapidly approaching if not already past.

[AFTP]

Last night on Bill Oreilly the Browns were reported on the “Craw” at the bottom of the screen.

[Demosthenes]

http://www.wmur.com/news/13006420/detail.html

Be sure to watch the video.

[TheSaint]

I mean, for Pete's sake, we took a Cuban kid out of a closet at gunpoint. He hadn't threatened judges or anything.

Good point. And wasn't that a much riskier operation than seizing the Browns would be? There were dozens of protestors present at all times, some of whom tried to obstruct the operation, and people in the house who said they'd try to defend Elian. Not to mention the international implications if something went wrong.

I have a hard time believing that our government and its trained forces can't extricate two 63-year-old idiots that nobody cares about. I know the Browns have visitors, but I'd bet most of them are Internet Tough Guys who'd soil themselves if anyone so much as fired a flare gun in their direction.

[webhick]

The US Marshall has released a letter to the Browns:

The marshal's letter to the Browns
'These warrants are not going away'

For the Monitor
April 25. 2007 8:00AM

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Brown:

Proceedings in the U.S. District Court have now concluded. You have been convicted of felony offenses against the United States, and have now been sentenced to a period of confinement in the United States Bureau of Prisons. This is now a matter for the U.S. Marshals Service and their law enforcement partners.

As you both know, there are outstanding warrants for your arrests. To date, you have made statements threatening law enforcement if attempts are made to serve those warrants. This creates a public safety concern for the community and subjects both you, and anyone who may be assisting you with this obstruction of justice, to further prosecution.

Until they are served, these warrants are not going away, and neither is law enforcement. The United States Marshals Service has maintained an open line of communication with both of you. We have, and will continue to take, all reasonable steps to resolve this peacefully. But, in order to remedy the situation you have placed yourselves in, without subjecting yourselves to further liability, here is what you need to do:

1. Contact us to make arrangements, and

2. Surrender peacefully to the United States Marshals Service.

You have my assurance that you will be treated professionally, with courtesy and respect. This is the right thing for you to do, and I encourage you to do it.

Sincerely,Stephen R. MonierUnited States Marshal

If you ask me, it should have ended: "Why don't you stop by my office tomorrow and tell me to my face that I don't exist."

[Demosthenes]

Press release from the US Marshals.

For Immediate Release

April 24, 2007

Concord – United States Marshal Stephen Monier released the following statement in response to today’s sentencing of Edward and Elaine Brown of Plainfield, NH: “Edward and Elaine Brown failed to appear in U.S. District Court today and were sentenced in absentia. The United States District Court’s proceedings have now concluded. The warrants for their arrests are still in effect, and this is now a law enforcement matter for the U.S. Marshals Service and their law enforcement partners,” Monier said.

Monier added, “Their sentencing does not change our strategy. The Browns are now convicted felons and have made statements that they will violently resist any efforts to serve the warrants. We know that there are weapons and hazardous conditions on their property, and this creates a public safety concern for the community. We will continue to talk to Ed and Elaine Brown in an effort to resolve this peacefully. We are encouraging them to turn themselves in. They must understand, that the outstanding warrants for their arrests are not going away, and neither is law enforcement.”

Monier continued, “It should also be noted that anyone rendering assistance, aid, or comfort to the Browns in their continuing efforts to obstruct justice and avoid apprehension, may be subject to arrest and prosecution. Anyone who provides the Browns with weapons or ammunition is committing a separate felony.”

Monier also explained that, “Making threatening statements or engaging in any action meant to intimidate, impede, interfere with, or retaliate against any government official performing their duties, is punishable by law.”

“Law enforcement,” he noted, “will take any such threats or actions very seriously, and will investigate fully.”

[grixit]

Monier's attitude makes me think of the general who besieged Paris at the end of the Franco Prussian War. People assumed he would shell the city and move in, but the city was in a defiant mood and prepared to resist street by street. So instead of attacking, the general first blockaded the roads to cut off food shipments. Then, just as the residents were starting to eat rats, he allowed the city to be resupplied. Then, after the food had been distributed, he closed the roads again and started shelling. The parisans lost their bravado at that point and surrendered peacefully. I'm not saying i expect Monier to try starving the Browns, i just think he's got a psychologial ploy in the works.

[AFTP]

http://www.wmur.com/news/13006420/detail.html

Be sure to watch the video.

So if the Reporters don’t leave he’ll call the police.
Now that has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard lately.

[Demosthenes]

So if the Reporters don’t leave he’ll call the police. Now that has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard lately.

He's called the police to his house twice already, once to escort Fox News off the property, the second time to have his friend taken back to the hospital.

[webhick]

So, this poses some questions for Ed:
1) If someone doesn't exist, how can they be on your property (since being on the property implies that they exist on the property)?
2) How do you tell a nonexistent entity to get off your property (if they don't exist, you're effectively talking to yourself)?
3) How do you propose to dial a nonexistent number to the nonexistent local authorities to haul the nonexistent people off your property - which you can't prove are on it to begin with?

Oh, and technically it's the government's property now. But wait, they don't exist either. So....what used to be your property now belongs to a nonexistent entity. And since nonexistent entities have no name (since you're all like "court who? government? what's that?"), it could very well be the same entity you're trying to have hauled off the property.

Um, yeah...good luck with that Ed.

[AFTP]

Ed at Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lewis_Brown

[ElfNinosMom]

My grandmother is 84, and if someone had suggested they should talk to my grandfather instead of her, because she's a woman, there would have been hell to pay. It wouldn't surprise me at all if she'd physically attack someone for insulting her intelligence like that.

Now that I've said that out loud, I guess that explains why I'm hardly a shrinking violet, LOL.

I've made no secret of how I think this should be handled, and my opinion hasn't changed.

I think the Marshals need to stop talking and "encouraging them to do the right thing", and just go in there and take them out by force if necessary, including anybody with them. To hell with this standoff crap. They've been sentenced to prison (although I don't think for anywhere near long enough), and have made too many violent threats to just leave them be, so be done with it and put them in prison where they belong.

At this point, playing "hide and watch" with convicted felons is making a mockery of the justice system, and it makes the Marshals look like they're scared of a confrontation. It also gives credence to the TP claim that the Browns were wrongfully convicted because there is no law which required the Browns to pay income taxes. By playing patty-cake with the Browns, the feds are creating a Golem they'll never be able to control.

If Monier won't do what needs to be done, replace him with somebody who will.

If the Marshals won't do it, send in the FBI or the ATF (after all, they have guns which they are not legally permitted to have). Hell, send in crazy-ass Dog the Bounty Hunter if you have to. Just get them into custody where they belong. This is not harmless Grandma and Grandpa in there. These are people who are dangerous. My God, one guy has already died due to Ed Brown's gun stupidity, and Elaine Brown made his widow's life a living hell. Screw the Browns.

This is beyond ridiculous. If it were you or I in the Browns' position, the feds would have long ago busted through our doors and taken us by force. So take off the kid gloves and start treating these criminals like any other criminal would be treated. If the Browns get hurt, it's their own damn fault, and no one else's. If they get stupid and set fire to their house so they can claim "Waco", that's also their own damn fault and no one else's. The American public certainly is not going to get upset if the government does what's necessary to take two convicted felons into prison, when they've already been tried, convicted, and sentenced.

[Deep breath]

Okay, rant over for now. Sorry about that, but this situation just pisses me off.

[Duke2Earl]

So ENM, are you going to tell us what you really feel? Sorry... couldn't resist. BTW, I agree with you.

[webhick]

Can't stand Dog.

How about Stephanie Plum? It would be a lot funnier, we'd be guaranteed at least one explosion, someone would get shot, and Ed & Elaine would be taken in a really embarrassing way. That, and I would totally show up for the take down if only to get a glimpse of Ranger or Joe.

But alas, characters in books don't really exist...

[Nikki]

Build a twelve foot high wall around the compound topped with barbed wire and alarms.

Cut off his communications and, with our remote smart weapons, destroy the wells, solar cells, and anything else outside the house.

What the hell, it's government property now, right.

Let Ed have his freedom, cut off from the outside world, in his little bunker as long as he wants to stay there.

His choice: 6 years in club fed or the rest of his life in self-imposed solitary.

And I forgot one minor detail -- 24 hours a day of Wayne Newton blaring Danke Schoen over a high powered PA system.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

I meant to go to the sentencing hearing (I live in NH), but completely spaced it. I doubt I missed anything.

I wonder if Elaine knows that Ed is the Man, and she is his chattel?

[ElfNinosMom]

It is NOT an option to allow them to stay in that house for the duration of their sentence, and I hope you're kidding when you say that. Prisoners don't have cushy beds, fully-equipped kitchens and other amenities, nor should they have those things. Why should these two 'tards be treated better than the average prisoner, and why should we reward their ridiculous behavior by granting their demand that they be allowed to stay in that house?

They MUST be taken into custody. This is beyond outrageous at this point, and quite frankly, it's really starting to piss me off.