On Nov. 22, 2011, AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming was arrested by the FBI in Washington state on charges he filed bogus liens against at least five public officials involved in the ASD Ponzi case.
Some ASD members apparently have relied on Leaming for legal advice, even though he is not an attorney.
Leaming was found with two federal fugitives implicated in an Arkansas-based, home-business scheme involving envelope-stuffing, federal prosecutors said. Those fugitives — Timothy Shawn Donavan and Sharon Jeannette Henningsen — were indicted on mail-fraud charges in February 2011, according to federal records.
Whether Donavan and Henningsen were ASD members is unclear. Also unclear is whether they relied on Leaming for legal advice at any point in time. Their filings, however, appear to be consistent with filings in cases involving purported “sovereign citizens.”
Although Leaming remains jailed, Donavan, 63, and Henningsen, 67, were released on bond in Washington state several days after their arrests and kept a court date in Arkansas on Dec. 8. During their initial Arkansas appearance, both defendants suggested they’d defend themselves — while also ambiguously suggesting they might hire a lawyer, according to court filings.
They again were released on bond, with the judge ordering them as a bond condition “to report to the court within 10 days o[n] whether they had hired an attorney or intended to pursue representing themselves.”
They did not do so, according to federal court records. The judge then set a hearing date for Dec. 27 and required Donavan and Henningsen to formally explain whether they’d rely on attorneys or themselves to defend the case.
On Dec. 27 — the date of the hearing and nine days after the initial deadline to inform the court on how they intended to defend the case — Donavan and Henningsen filed a bizarre pleading styled, “Notice: Forgive Me Request; Constructive Notice of Conditional Acceptance and Request to Continue Public Proceedings.”
In the pleading, Donavan and Henningsen apparently argued that they needed “80” more days to make up their minds. Their trail date, however, already had been scheduled for Jan. 19, 2012. Both defendants were aware of the trial date, according to court records.
It got stranger yet.
“At the hearing and in their Notice the Defendants stated that they were appearing as ‘Authorized Representatives for the Secured Party Creditor having a security interest in the collateral belonging to the Debtor-Defendant, SHARON JEANNETTE HENNINGSEN AND TIMOTHY SHAWN DONAVAN, and also accommodation parties, hereinafter, ‘Offerees.’” according to an order issued by the judge.
“The Offerees,” the strange pleading continued, “are in receipt of INDICTMENT a copy attached hereto and incorporated herein as if full reproduced herein as ‘Exhibit 1’ dated February 24, 2011 in Case #2:11-CR-20008, hereinafter ‘offer’, (sic) from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA via M.W. FLEMING, Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office . . ., hereinafter `Offerer’”. (sic)
Donavan and Henningsen then apparently ventured that they’d accept appointed counsel if the appointed counsel would “hold them harmless” for anything they suffered.
The judge denied the motion for an 80-day continuance and appointed provisional counsel.
How the case will proceed was not immediately clear.
Visit Leagle.com to read the full judge’s order.