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Tag: washington state sovereign citizens

  • Anti-Defamation League, One Of First Groups To Warn Public About AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, Now Says ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Are Forming ‘Vigilante Grand Juries’ And Harassing Public Officials In New York, Florida And Elsewhere

    americaatrisk4Kenneth Wayne Leaming, the AdSurfDaily Ponzi story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” now serving eight years in federal prison in part for filing bogus liens against public officials involved in the 2008 ASD case, once claimed the federal judge in Washington state who presided over his criminal trial owed him 208,000 ounces of “99.9% fine silver.”

    Among Leaming’s bizarre claims was that the judge was “operating [a] SLAVERY SYSTEM, etc.” Leaming earlier tried unsuccessfully to sue President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Among his bizarre claims in that now-dismissed case was that he and a co-plaintiff — a man in prison on federal tax charges — were owed 12,000 ounces of gold.

    After Leaming’s conviction in a 2013 trial in which federal prosecutors said he was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in the courtroom, the judge ordered the forfeiture of items seized from Leaming during an FBI probe of his activities in 2011. Those items included six firearms and police equipment, including badges, credentials, law-enforcement identification documents, light bars, crime-scene tape, handcuffs, vests and nightsticks.

    Leaming “client” files also were ordered forfeited. (Some ASD members said Leaming was performing legal work for them, even though he is not an attorney.)

    The Anti-Defamation League, which warned the public about Leaming before his name even surfaced in the context of ASD in 2010, now says a different group of purported “sovereign citizens” on the other side of the country is harassing a judge and court clerk in rural Greene County, N.Y. Greene County, in the Catskills, has a population of fewer than 50,000, according to its Wikipedia entry.

    From the ADL (italics added):

     . . . common law grand juries claim to have signed a “true bill” charging the chief clerk in Greene County with numerous “crimes” related to her alleged failure to file paperwork for the “grand jury,” according to ADL. They also “fined” a Greene County judge the amount of “100 ounces of silver,” citing 23 separate “violations” for failing to provide demanded documents and refusing to speak to their “board of review,” and allegedly sent harassing documents to a number of judges.

    And there might be trouble elsewhere, ADL says.

    “[C]ommon law juries in Marion and St. Johns counties in Florida sent a ‘Writ of Mandamus’ to county officials demanding a budget of $1.5 million, office space and equipment and a meeting room with a conference table and chairs,” ADL reports.

    Marion County is in North Central Florida in the Ocala region and has a population of about 335,000. St. John’s County is in Northeast Florida in the Jacksonville region and has a population of about 190,000.

    There have been reports of violence and extremely menacing behavior involving “sovereign citizens” in Florida. In March 2013, purported “sovereign” Jeffrey Allen Wright was shot to death after pointing a pistol at a sheriff’s SWAT team in Navarre, situated in the Florida panhandle. Wright was wanted on a warrant for counterfeiting.

    In November 2013, Tampa-region “sovereign citizen” Eric Holtgard was arrested twice in less than 24 hours, amid allegations he was menacing people with guns. In May 2013, purported “sovereign citizen” Bruce Chalmers Hicks of the Tampa region was arrested on charges that he was carrying a sidearm on the property of Turkey Creek Middle School in Plant City.

    Larry M. Myers, a purported “sovereign citizen” and fugitive, was sentenced in 2012 to 78 months in federal prison. Authorities said he was was member of a bogus entity known as “The Constitutional Court of We The People In and For The United States of America” and the “Constitutional Common Law Court.”

    “Myers and his co-conspirators mailed a CLC arrest warrant to a Chief Judge of a Florida State court,” the office of the Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration (TIGTA) said. “They also issued a CLC contempt of court order and ‘militia’ arrest warrant to a District Judge.”

    “Sovereign citizens” have been claiming judicial and jury authority for years. ADL suggests these elements of the purported “movement” might be gaining steam.

    “Adherents of the sovereign citizen movement are forming their own vigilante “grand juries” in counties across the United States in an attempt to exact pressure on local government officials to accede to their anti-government demands and whims,” ADL said yesterday.

    “The sovereign citizen group behind this attempt to form bogus grand juries is the National Liberty Alliance, formed in 2011 as the New York Liberty Alliance by sovereign citizen guru John Darash of Poughkeepsie, NY,” ADL says. “It recently launched a nationwide effort to recruit new members, and Darash and his followers have spent most of their time establishing ‘common law grand juries’ in counties across the country. The Liberty Alliance boasts of having 852 county organizers in 36 states and nearly 2,000 members from coast to coast.”

     

  • BULLETIN: AdSurfDaily Story Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming Officially Loses Title To Seized Weapons, Badges, Police Gear, Computers And ‘Client’ Records

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    BULLETIN: UPDATED 8:17 P.M. ET (DEC. 10 U.S.A.)  A federal judge in Washington state has issued a final order of forfeiture that awards title to items seized from AdSurfDaily story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming to the U.S. government.

    Judge Ronald B. Leighton of the Western District of Washington signed the order on Nov. 22, the two-year anniversary date of Leaming’s arrest by an FBI terrorism task force. Federal prosecutors later said the Leaming probe was part of a larger investigation into “sovereign citizens” nationwide.

    Prosecutors asked for the order on Nov. 13, noting that Leaming had consented to the forfeiture.

    Included in the order are six firearms possessed by Leaming, a convicted felon, at the time of his arrest.  Also included is police equipment found with Leaming, including badges, credentials, law-enforcement identification documents, light bars, crime-scene tape, handcuffs, vests, nightsticks and similar items.

    Leaming, 57, was a member of the purported “County Rangers,” the alleged armed-enforcement wing of a group of “sovereign citizens.”

    The order also applies to computers, external hard drives, documents and “client” files linked to Leaming.

    Some ASD members said Leaming was performing legal work for them after the ASD Ponzi scheme was exposed by the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia in 2008. Leaming later was convicted on charges of filing false liens against government officials involved in the ASD Ponzi investigation and prosecution. In the same case, he was convicted of assisting another “sovereign citizen” in the filing of false liens against other government officials. Leaming also was convicted of being a felon in possession of firearms and harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a fraud scheme separate from ASD.

    The government has not said what it intends to do with the seized “client” files and documents, some of which conceivably could be used to link Leaming to the ASD members who were using his services. Leaming’s history includes being accused in Washington state of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

    ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme. ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, 79, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May 2012 and now is serving a 78-month sentence in federal prison.

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

  • BULLETIN: Prosecution Seeks Final Forfeiture Of Guns, Badges, ‘Client’ Files And Digital Devices Of AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    BULLETIN: Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington have asked a federal judge to issue a final order of forfeiture against the property of AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming.

    Leaming has agreed to forfeit the property, and a preliminary order of forfeiture already has been entered, according to prosecution filings.

    The property includes six firearms, bogus law-enforcement badges and other false credentials, light bars, crime-scene tape, vests, handcuffs and nightsticks. It also includes documents related to Leaming’s “performance of legal services for third parties,” including “‘client’ files, counterfeit instruments, and similar materials,” prosecutors said.

    At the same time, prosecutors are seeking the final forfeiture of “All digital devices, including computers, external hard drives, and other storage media” linked to Leaming

    Leaming, 57, of Spanaway, Wash., is serving an eight-year prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Ind. He was sentenced in May 2013 on charges of filing false liens against government officials involved in the prosecution of the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, harboring federal fugitives from a separate scheme and being a felon in possession of firearms. His previous felony conviction was for piloting an aircraft without being licensed.

    Leaming was arrested by an FBI Terrorism Task Force in November 2011, after he filed false liens against the officials. Agents also uncovered evidence that suggested Leaming intended to serve a writ on U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts by monitoring the school his children attended. Roberts presides over the U.S. Supreme Court and is America’s top judicial officer.

    Precisely how many ASD clients Leaming had is unknown. In 2010, Leaming promoted himself as an attorney on the website of Cornell University Law School, advertising a fee structure and saying he practiced “Admiralty/Maritime, Business Law, Estate Planning and Native American Law.” Cornell removed the listing after the PP Blog reported that Leaming was accused in Washington state in 2005 of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

    In 2009, Leaming filed involuntary bankruptcy petitions against the Washington State Bar Association and a Franciscan healthcare facility in the state. (Among Leaming’s assertions was that the bar association owed him $32 billion. Through a notary public in a different venue, Leaming earlier had asserted that the hospital owed him $9.24 billion. In short, Leaming sought to attach “all tangible and intangible property” of the hospital, including its fixtures, furnishings, motor vehicles, bank accounts, passbooks, saving certificates, stock certificates, lines of credit, inventories, promissory notes, office equipment, educational equipment — and even its mineral and water rights, according to records. The hospital serves several communities in Pierce County, including Lakewood, Spanaway, Steilacoom, DuPont, University Place and others.)

    Judges tossed the preposterous claims, and a federal bankruptcy judge ordered sanctions against Leaming.

    In October 2011, the PP Blog reported that a Leaming-associated company — American-International Business Law Inc. — was listed in records as the registered agent of at least 73 companies. One of the firms was known as “Presidential Detail.” Another was known as “Homeland Security Service.” Two others were known as “Federal Asset Management Service” and “Federal Fleet Management.”

    At least two other Leaming-connected firms used the names of the famous JP Morgan banking concern.

    “Sovereign citizens” are known to engage in what has been described as “paper terrorism” against the government and its officials, banks and litigation opponents. Earlier this year, Leaming asserted the judge presiding over his criminal charges in the liens, harboring and firearms case owed him 208,000 ounces of “fine silver.”

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASDUpdates Blog.

  • Raymond Leo Jarlik Bell, 70-Year-Old Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Linked To AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, Sentenced To More Than 8 Years In Federal Prison

    ponziblotterRaymond Leo Jarlik Bell, a 70-year-old purported “sovereign citizen” linked to AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, has been sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for a tax scam.

    In July 2011, federal agents found records of bogus liens filed by Leaming against public officials while executing a search warrant at Jarlik Bell’s residence in Yelm, Wash., according to court records. Bell was under investigation for his tax scam at the time the records were found. Leaming, 57, later was charged with filing bogus liens, harboring federal fugitives from Arkansas in Washington state and being a felon in possession of firearms, including a “street sweeper” shotgun and an assault rife.

    Leaming was sentenced in May to eight years in federal prison. David Carroll Stephenson, another Leaming associate and purported “sovereign citizen” from Washington state, was sentenced in May to 10 years for filing bogus liens against two U.S. prison officials. Stephenson, 57, already was serving time for a tax scam when those liens were filed.

    Jarlik Bell’s scam centered on filing for false tax refunds “using a scheme known as OID fraud,” prosecutors said.

    OID fraud may include claims that the U.S. government maintains secret accounts for citizens and that such accounts can be tapped to receive tax “refunds” in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time if paperwork is filed in a certain manner.

    “No matter what the promoter calls it, a scheme to file bogus tax returns claiming outrageous tax ‘refunds’ that don’t belong to you, is just fraud,” said Kenneth J. Hines, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Seattle.

    “This defendant held himself out as a tax expert with contacts at the IRS – when both the IRS and a federal judge told him repeatedly that his conduct was criminal,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “Mr. Jarlik Bell believed he was above the law, and aggressively promoted and spread his scheme to others looking to duck their fair share and steal tax dollars through fraudulent refunds.”

    From a statement by prosecutors (italics added):

    In 2006, BELL obtained a tax refund in excess of $30,000 using the scheme. Numerous others who were advised by JARLIK BELL also filed for and received fraudulent refunds they did not deserve.  One woman received a tax refund of more than $590,000.  In 2005, JARLIK BELL was ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan to stop promoting fraudulent tax schemes.  Less than three years later, he was back promoting another massive tax fraud among friends, family and strangers.

    Ute Christine Jarlik Bell, Jarlik Bell’s wife, also is a purported “sovereign citizen” and tax scammer, prosecutors said. She is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow on four counts of filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims.

    Jarlik Bell was convicted in March 2013 of five counts of filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims, 15 counts of assisting in filing false tax returns, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of criminal contempt, prosecutors said.

    U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton described Jarlik Bell’s scheme as “fraud at its core,” prosecutors said.

    “You are hurting people intentionally, regardless of your adherence to [your beliefs],” prosecutors quoted Leighton as saying.

    Leaming filed bogus liens against a federal judge, federal prosecutors and a U.S. Secret Service agent involved in the prosecution of the the ASD Ponzi scheme. The Secret Service has described ASD as a “criminal enterprise” that gathered about $119 million by duping people into believing that ASD’s purported payout of 1 percent a day came from legitimate means. ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, 78, is serving a 78-month prison term.

    When Leaming was arrested in November 2011, investigators discovered he’d been harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas charged with mail fraud in a separate home-business scheme that allegedly had gathered millions of dollars.

    Leaming, who previously had sued President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder on a theory that Obama was not born in the United States and was an unlawful President who’d appointed Holder unlawfully, went on to claim that Leighton owed him 208,000 ounces of silver.

    The lawsuit against Obama and Holder was tossed out of court by a federal judge.

     

     

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Kenneth Wayne Leaming Sentenced To 8 Years In Federal Prison

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 10:55 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison. His former business associate and fellow purported “sovereign” David Carroll Stephenson has been sentenced to 10 years.

    Stephenson already was serving prison time for a tax scam.

    “These defendants tried to mask their crimes with the cloak of free speech and beliefs,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “They thought they were immune from the law or the justice system, but now their frauds aimed at taxpayers and public servants need to come to an end. A lengthy prison term is the best way to protect the public from their schemes.”

    Stephenson, Durkan’s office said, received a sentence longer than the recommended guidelines.

    U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said that Stephenson “cannot, will not live his life without doing harm to others,” prosecutors said. “He is the master manipulator, the puppeteer . . . He is in my mind a very dangerous man.”

    Leaming, the judge said, flaunts authority and “harasses law abiding people who have an obligation to the people to serve,” according to prosecutors.

    Leaming, like Stephenson, is 57. Although it never was clear whether Leaming was a member of the $119 million ASD Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008, it became crystal clear that he was trying to derail the prosecution by filing bogus liens against public officials involved in the ASD case and had worked with Stephenson to file fraudulent liens against two U.S. prison officials.

    Prosecutors had asked for Leaming to be sentenced to 10 years.

    When the FBI executed search warrants at Leaming’s Spanaway home in November 2011, they found six firearms — this despite the fact Leaming was a convicted felon banned from possessing guns. Leaming previously has been convicted of piloting an aircraft without a license.

    One of the weapons Leaming possessed was described by prosecutors as a “street sweeper” style shotgun. He also had an “assault rifle,” according to prosecutors.

    Leaming also was found to be harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a home-business caper separate from ASD.

    During his criminal trial, Leaming was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in a veiled bid to intimidate law enforcement, prosecutors said. Dorner is the former member of the Los Angeles Police Department who promised warfare against cops in February. The Dorner story stunned the nation.

    Leaming, according to the FBI, also has a history that includes discussing a plot by which he’d serve U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts with a purported writ at a school attended by Roberts’ young children.

    From a statement by Durkan’s office tonight (italics added):

    The men (Stephenson and Leaming) identify themselves as members of the ‘Sovereign Citizen’ movement. ‘Sovereign Citizens’ profess a belief that both state and federal government entities are illegitimate. Members of this group often engaged in so-called “freedom driving,” i.e., driving about without state-required licenses, either for their vehicles or themselves. When contacted by local law enforcement, members of the group often bombard local officials (from the officer, to local judges, to mayors and other members of local government) with frivolous liens, false claims, and sometimes threats of violence. Many members of this same group had previously come to the attention of federal law enforcement for engaging in various fraudulent tax schemes, wire fraud schemes, and (occasionally) inappropriate communications with various members of federal law enforcement and the judiciary.

    In asking for a ten year sentence for both men, prosecutors wrote to the court that only a long prison term would protect the public. About STEPHENSON they wrote, “This is not the case of a defendant who continues to run afoul of the law because of a substance abuse addiction or a history of childhood abuse. Rather, this is a defendant who simply chooses to remain defiant, despite court after court telling him that he must stop, and despite multiple stints in prison. At this point, removal from society is the only way in which the public can be kept safe from the defendant’s crimes.”

    As for LEAMING, prosecutors provided information to the court about his repeatedly holding himself out to victims as a lawyer who could solve their problems, when in fact his actions may have damaged their case. About the crimes from the March 2013 conviction prosecutors wrote: “Defendant’s possession of firearms is particularly disturbing in light of several facts. First is obviously his disdain for government. Second is his possession of various items of police equipment, including numerous badges, light bars, and a Crown Victoria sedan modified to appear to be a police vehicle. Last but not least is Defendant’s repeated invocation of the shooting of government officials in Southern California by a disgruntled former police officer – which again appeared to be a veiled threat to engage in violence himself if he is prevented from pursuing his “‘petitions for redress,’” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

  • Letter Sent To Federal Judge In Washington State Contained Ricin, FBI Says; Matthew Ryan Buquet Arrested

    americaatrisk4The FBI has arrested Matthew Ryan Buquet, who appeared in federal court yesterday to face a charge he mailed a letter containing ricin toxin to a federal judge in Washington state.

    Buquet is 37. The Associated Press, via Fox News, identified the intended recipient as U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle of the Eastern District of Washington. Van Sickle presides over cases in Spokane. He was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and now serves as a senior judge. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Van Sickle was a state-court judge in Washington.

    It was not immediately clear whether the FBI suspects a broader crime. Nor was it clear whether Van Sickle ever presided over a case in which Buquet had a role. Washington state is known to be the site of an investigation into the activities of purported “sovereign citizens.” The word “sovereign” does not appear in a statement by the FBI yesterday on the Buquet arrest, but purported “sovereigns” have been linked to cases of domestic terrorism and extremism in the United States.

    “Our coordinated team acted swiftly to resolve a potentially dangerous situation and continues working tirelessly around-the-clock to investigate the origin of the letter and to address any remaining, potential risks,” said Laura M. Laughlin, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle Division.

    “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service quickly deployed resources dedicated to find those responsible for this suspicious mailing to ensure the safety of U.S. Postal Service employees and the American public,” said Bradley J. Kleinknecht, inspector in charge of the Seattle Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

    The Spokane ricin investigation follows on the heels of an April incident in Mississippi allegedly involving ricin and the mails. President Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and a state judge in Mississippi allegedly were targets of the April letters.

    News of Buquet’s arrest came during the same week federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington alleged that AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in the courtroom.

    Leaming, 57, was convicted March 1 on charges of filing false liens against public officials involved in the ASD case, harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a separate multimillion-dollar fraud scheme and being a felon in possession of firearms. Based on their bizarre court pleadings, the Arkansas fugitives found with Leaming appear either to be “sovereigns” or people acting under the influence of “sovereigns.”

    “Sovereign citizens,” known to network over the Internet, may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them and may draft others into “sovereign” schemes, sometimes for a fee. Though typically linked to financial crimes, some individuals linked to the purported “sovereign citizen” movement also have been involved in sex crimes. In November 2011, a Florida man listed as a registered sex offender was jailed after the allegedly filed a bogus lien against a judge.

    In a separate case involving a purported “sovereign,” Bruce Chalmers Hicks was jailed in Florida last week. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Hicks served seven years in prison after his 2004 conviction for molesting a child under the age of 12.

    MailOnline reported yesterday that Buquet “was listed as a sex offender following an ‘indecent liberties’ charge in 1998.”

    The office of U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington prosecuted Leaming, the ASD figure and purported “sovereign.” Leaming now claims a federal judge owes him 208,000 ounces of fine silver. Durkan’s office recently has prosecuted other purported “sovereigns,” including David Russell Myrland.

    In 2011, Myrland was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for threatening the mayor of the Seattle suburb of Kirkland and other public officials. He later bizarrely claimed (apparently) that the government was engaging in a grammar conspiracy against him.

     

  • BULLETIN: Prosecutors Say AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming Was Channeling Cop-Killer Christopher Dorner In Veiled Bid To Intimidate Law Enforcement

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    BULLETIN: Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington have asked Judge Ronald B. Leighton to sentence AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming to 10 years in federal prison, the maximum term under the law.

    Leaming, 57, of Spanaway, Wash., was found guilty March 1 on charges of filing false liens against public officials involved in the ASD case and against federal prison officials, harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas in a home-business caper separate from ASD, and possessing firearms as a convicted felon.

    In a chilling sentencing memo today, prosecutors said Leaming — during his criminal trial beginning the week of Feb. 25 — was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in the courtroom. Although the memo did not reference Dorner by name, it was clear prosecutors were talking about the former Los Angeles police officer who threatened “unconventional and asymmetrical” warfare against police and went on a killing spree earlier in February that targeted police officers and their family members.

    Dorner’s rampage resulted in the deaths of two officers and the daughter of an officer, sparking other violent confrontations and what has been described as one of the largest manhunts in LAPD history. Dorner himself died violently on Feb. 12. Leaming’s trial began about two weeks later.

    “During the trial, Leaming repeatedly made statements referring to the (then recent) incident in Southern California, where a former police officer had started hunting down and murdering government officials the former officer felt had wronged him,” prosecutors said today. “Leaming would generally say something to the effect that it was better that he engaged in ‘seeking redress’ from government officials by way of liens and other paperwork, as opposed to emulating the former officer and using violence.

    “This formulation was repeated often enough that the government believes it was a thinly-veiled threat,” prosecutors continued. “Leaming, in essence, engaged in ‘paper terrorism’ against government officials. By these repeated statements, Leaming seemed to be saying that if he was not permitted to engage in that conduct, he may as well resort to violent acts of terror instead.”

    And, prosecutors said today, Leaming has shown no remorse “for any of his actions, and fully intends to continue to pursue the same course of conduct . . .”

    “[T]his is clear from the defense he presented at trial, and in his filings since trial,” prosecutors said.

    As the PP Blog reported earlier this month, Leaming now says Leighton, the judge who presided over his trial, owes him 208,000 ounces of fine silver.

    “Since his conviction, [Leaming] has continued to file numerous, typically incomprehensible and/or nonsensical filings in this and other courts,” prosecutors said in today’s sentencing memo.  “These filings refer to various UCC instruments, typically claim the Court lacks jurisdiction over him based on a willful misunderstanding of the law, and claim that he is being held as a ‘slave.’ Leaming has attempted to sue at least one [Assistant U.S. Attorney] in the International Court of Justice, and filed numerous monetary claims (often claiming that he should be paid in silver) against [Bureau of Prisons] officials, agents, [Assistant U.S. Attorneys,] various judges, and the Ninth Circuit Clerk. He has also filed numerous pro se civil proceedings and appeals in the Circuit. Most recently, he filed complaints with the [Washington State Bar Association] against one of the [Assistant U.S. Attorneys], U.S. Attorney [Jenny A.] Durkan, and this Court.”

    Durkan’s office prosecuted Leaming.

    Leaming, according to court records, also unsuccessfully sought to sue President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. Meanwhile, the Congressional Record strongly suggests that Leaming sought to make some sort of claim for purported damages against the United States.

    Leaming also sought to claim spectacular sums from the United States in an unsuccessful lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

    Prosecutors said today that Leaming “has exploited the ignorance of others for his personal gain for years, taking money from . . . people to ‘help’ them with their legal problems – but in reality he of course did no such thing.”

    Leaming, they said, “has spent much of his adult life engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, in itself a felony offense under state law. In doing so, Defendant variously portrays himself as an expert in law enforcement and/or as some type of legal genius – a ‘lawyer’ but not an ‘attorney’ as he explained at some (rather bewildering) length during the trial. Both self-portrayals are complete and utter fictions.”

    In 2010, Cornell University Law School, Justia.com and Oyez.org removed online profiles of Leaming after he advertised a fee structure of up to $250 an hour and encouraged prospects to “schedule a free introductory consultation.”

    Investigators later identified Leaming as part of a “national” group of “sovereign citizens” operating in Washington state. At the time of his November 2011 arrest, Leaming was found with multiple firearms. Prosecutors said in October 2012 that he was “instrumental in founding the ‘County Rangers,’ the sovereign group’s armed enforcement wing. Members of the County Rangers were issued realistic-looking badges and credentials were required to possess firearms as part of their duties, and held themselves out as law enforcement agents.”

    Prosecutors noted today that Leaming possessed “various items of police equipment, including numerous badges, light bars, and a Crown Victoria sedan modified to appear to be a police vehicle.”

    With respect to his ASD-related actions, prosecutors said this today:

    “[Leaming] took money from the victims of a massive ponzi scheme prosecuted in Washington DC to ‘fix’ their problems. Of course, as the case agent testified, there was nothing to fix – the government recovered almost all of the lost money, and most victims were made whole. Defendant nonetheless took money from these hapless individuals, essentially to interfere with the ongoing prosecution.”

     

  • RECOMMENDED READING: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The World Of Coos Bay (Oregon) Spotlight Reports On ‘Sovereign Citizens’

    This is a links post:

    Visit the website of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to read a story on indictments of “sovereign citizens” in Washington state amid allegations of threats against public officials.

    Visit the website of The World of Coos Bay, Ore., to read a story on the “indictment” of a sitting district attorney by sovereign citizens. Read a companion story on a purported bid to undermine a local prosecution.