‘Sovereign Citizen,’ 66, Used ‘Bogus Checks’ To Pay For 2 Dodge Trucks, Chiropractic Services And Logging Equipment

In the latest bizarre case involving a purported “sovereign citizen,” Charlie McCants Jr., 66, of Mayesville, S.C., has been convicted on seven counts of attempting to pass bogus government checks to pay for items such as Dodge trucks, chiropractic services and logging equipment, federal prosecutors said.

“Evidence presented at the trial showed McCants used bogus checks to purchase two Dodge trucks from a Sumter dealership,” the office of U.S. Attorney William N. Nettles of the District of South Carolina said. “McCants also used bogus checks to pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of chiropractic services and even attempted to purchase three million dollars’ worth of logging equipment from a Newberry dealership.”

McCants filed “bizarre financial documents” and claimed to have renounced his citizenship, divining a construction by which these acts gave him “the ability to pay his debts using the United States Treasury,” prosecutors said.

He potentially faces decades in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set, prosecutors said.

In 2009, another purported South Carolina “sovereign citizen” — Joseph Brunson, a Ponzi schemer — declared Nettles’ predecessor as U.S. Attorney guilty of treason, insurrection and conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government. The claim was made as part of a bizarre bid to hamstring the Ponzi prosecution led by former U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins.

A year later, Brunson was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for his role in the infamous “3 Hebrew Boys” Ponzi scheme in which the scammers declared their investment entity a debt-relief ministry and purchased a Gulfstream jet, a party bus and expensive sports tickets, according to court filings.