IRS PUTS BROWN'S PROPERTY UP FOR BID

Published: February 07, 2008 06:06 am

IRS puts N.H. tax evaders' belongings up for bid

By Jill Harmacinski
Staff Writer

LAWRENCE — The highest bidders are driving around in Ed and Elaine Brown's old pickup truck, dump truck and sport utility vehicle today. Others are waiting for a nice day to use the tax-evading couple's lawn tractor or take a spin on their former Gold Wing motorcycle.

Dozens jammed into Coady's Towing and Repairs on Marston Street yesterday morning as the Internal Revenue Service started auctioning off property seized last year from the Browns of Plainfield, N.H.

The IRS auction continues today in Nashua, N.H. A gold bar, coins, a diamond stickpin and a hyperbaric chamber are among the items up for the highest bid today.

The Browns, who believe federal tax laws are fiction, made national headlines after exiling themselves in their home for six months last year. They surrendered to U.S. marshals in October and husband and wife are now serving jail time, in separate prisons, for concealing $1.9 million in income to avoid paying taxes.

Items auctioned yesterday included a red 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck, 1999 Chevy Silverado 2500 pickup truck, a 2002 onyx Oldsmobile Bravada SUV, a 1985 Chevy dump truck, a 1985 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle, Sears Craftsman lawn mower and a Southworth Milton CAT power system.

During their exile, officials cut power and telephone service to the Browns' home in an effort to ratchet up pressure on the couple. But the Browns said they didn't notice and told investigators they had generators to rely on and 103 wooded acres to keep warm during winter.

The Browns' home is on an isolated dirt road and includes a room in a turret that offers a 360-degree view of the property. The driveway was often barricaded with SUVs.

Starting at 10 yesterday morning, the prospective buyers started rolling into Coady's for the auction. They parked in Coady's lot, along Marston Street, and even as far away as Commonwealth Avenue.

"They were all over the place," said owner Frank Coady.

How much the IRS recouped at the auction yesterday remained unclear. But Coady said those he spoke with "were thrilled."

"The auction brought in top dollar," he said. "They did very well."

Coady's occasionally serves as the backdrop for IRS auctions. Approximately 40 items, seized by the IRS in other cases, are now stored at the tow yard and awaiting auction, he said.

Edward Brown is incarcerated at a federal prison in Fairton, N.J. His wife is in a federal prison in Danbury, Conn. They are each serving five years and three months in prison.

Source: http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_038060647.html

BROWNS ARRESTED, FACE MORE CHARGES

Experts More charges likely for Browns

October 5, 2007



Margot Sanger-Katz

In many ways, the Ed and Elaine Brown show is over. We will not be able to hear them speak daily on the online Ed Brown Under Siege radio show. We will not see fliers for their parties or see the latest video from a "freedom festival" on their Plainfield property.
But Ed and Elaine Brown's story is far from over. The Plainfield tax protesters, who promised their followers an apocalyptic shootout with marshals and were instead arrested quietly Thursday, will likely face a raft of new charges and see many of their key supporters prosecuted, said experts who have watched the case.
On Friday, U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said the Browns were in transit to federal prisons where they would begin serving 63-month sentences for tax-related charges. They were convicted in January of conspiring to hide Elaine Brown's dental income from authorities, but managed to avoid serving time for nearly nine months, as they rallied antigovernment support and holed up in their well-equipped home.
So far, the Browns have faced no legal sanctions for their behavior, which included issuing explicit threats against judges, prosecutors and local law enforcement figures, stockpiling weapons, and assembling a barrage of improvised explosives devices, according to court documents and statements from Monier. But in a press briefing Friday, Monier suggested that the Browns will face new charges for that conduct.
"Unfortunately, the Browns have turned this into more than just a tax case," Monier said. "By their continuing actions, allegedly, to obstruct justice, to encourage others to assist them to obstruct justice, by making threats toward law enforcement and other government officials, they have turned this into more than a tax case."
Several experts who watch the tax protest movement said the Browns could face a range of new charges, including conspiring to impede the marshals, illegal weapons possessions, criminal threatening, obstruction of justice and possession of explosives.
"I don't realistically think they are ever going to see each other again, except in the next trial," said JJ MacNab, a tax evasion expert who has been following the Brown case for a book on the tax protest movement.
During the standoff, the Browns missed a key court deadline, which means they will not be able to appeal their convictions on the tax crimes.
Four of the Browns' supporters arrested in September will also be tried soon. Jason Gerhard, Cirino Gonzalez, Daniel Riley and Robert Wolffe were all accused of aiding and abetting the couple. Gerhard, Gonzalez and Riley were also charged with conspiring to impede the marshals and harm the government, and with possessing weapons in relation to a crime of violence. The weapons charges carry mandatory minimum sentences; Gerhard, who faces the most counts, could be sentenced to more than 125 years in prison if he is convicted.
Their trials, which are likely to be delayed, are currently scheduled for early November.
New arrests may be on the horizon. Monier said Friday that his office would continue to investigate those who helped the Browns before and will monitor supporters for retaliatory action now that the couple is in custody. Several high-profile Brown supporters, including two men who lived with the couple for weeks and one who raised money for their cause, have not been arrested.
The Browns may also live on in the tax-protest movement, which seized the Brown case as a critical example of government injustice. The Browns maintained to the end that there was no law making them liable for federal income taxes, and their stand brought national attention to that perspective. The couple's MySpace page attracted more than 5,000 "friends," many of whom have embraced the Browns' anti-tax views.
"People are tired of this bs that's being shoveled at them," said John Stadtmiller, a radio host and former militia leader, who said he was relieved that the Browns were not harmed by marshals. "They want answers, they want justice, and this is going to continue."

Source: http://www.gcnlive.com/newsstory1.html

BROWNS SAY THEY WON'T SURRENDER

Browns Say They Won't Surrender

Ruby Ridge Survivor Weaver Speaks At Press Conference

POSTED: 11:46 am EDT June 18, 2007

UPDATED: 6:07 pm EDT June 18, 2007

PLAINFIELD, N.H. --
A Plainfield couple convicted of tax evasion held a press conference Monday in which they and their supporters reiterated their belief that they are not required to pay taxes.

"For many years, many thousands of people have been asking the (Internal Revenue Service) to show them the law requiring the average American to pay tax on the fruits of their labor," said Elaine Brown. "They have never done so."

Ed and Elaine Brown have been holed up in their Plainfield home since they were each sentenced to more than five years in prison in April on federal tax evasion charges. The press conference was held outside their home on their 110-acre property.

Elaine Brown said that there was no possibility that they would surrender.

"If they come in, we're dead. That's it," she said. "We will not be arrested. We will not volunteer to go into their prison for a non-crime. We have committed no crime."

The Browns were joined by Ruby Ridge survivor Randy Weaver, whose wife and son were killed along with a deputy U.S. marshal in the Idaho standoff in 1992. Weaver said that he was concerned that a similar event could occur in Plainfield.

"This is why I'm here," Weaver said. "Because if this gets out of control, it's going to happen here."

An emotional Weaver drew parallels between the Ruby Ridge standoff and law-enforcement activities in Plainfield earlier this month, when armored vehicles and bomb-disposal units arrived at the property while a warrant was served at a commercial property owned by the couple in Lebanon.

"This is serious stuff. Bring it on," Weaver said.

Ed Brown dismissed the police as "mercenaries" and the media gathered for the press conference as "order-takers." He said law enforcement officers were using the excuse of just following orders as they engaged in a waiting game with the Browns.

"All police officers today in this nation are mercenaries," he said. "They are all guns for hire."

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has stated that there were no plans to storm the property or attempt to take the Browns by force. He said that they are trying to encourage them to surrender, and officials last week cut power, phone and Internet service to the property.

In a press release issued Monday, the U.S. Marshals Service said that it is still trying to resolve the matter without violence.

"The U.S. Marshals Service is committed to resolving this peacefully," the statement read. "Edward and Elaine Brown can end this today by doing the right thing, which is to call us and make arrangements for their surrender."

Ed and Elaine Brown said Monday that they would be able to stay indefinitely in their house, which has solar and wind power sources.

In the meantime, Plainfield residents and officials said they are getting increasingly anxious about the situation. Selectmen recently sent a letter to federal officials stating that they believe the time has come for definitive action.

U.S. marshals recently held a stakeout near the Browns' property, and the letter expressed concern that no local officials knew about it, according to state Sen. Peter Burling.

"The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office knew nothing, and the Plainfield police chief, who is superb, had no warning at all," Burling said.

Laura Ward and her daughter live near the Browns, and she said the ongoing situation has become stressful.

"It does kind of make you worry because I am not sure how long they intend to have it go on," she said.

Several supporters of the Browns are staying with them, and many are thought to be armed, officials said. Some residents said that they hope that however it gets resolved, it happens soon.

"If you like celebrity, it's a good time to be in Plainfield, but most of us don't," resident Craig Wehde said.

Copyright 2007 by WMUR. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.wmur.com/news/13521122/detail.html

BROWN'S UTILITIES CUT-OFF

Power, telephone, Internet access cut to Browns' home

By PAT GROSSMITH
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Wednesday, Jun. 13, 2007

The federal government is attempting to make everyday life for convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown so uncomfortable they will surrender and begin serving their 63-month federal prison sentence.

Stephen Monier, the U.S. marshal in New Hampshire, today said the government has severed the Browns' telephone service, Internet access and power to their hilltop home in Plainfield.

He acknowledged, however, that other people are supplying the Browns with laptop computers, providing them with other internet access. Ed Brown also built his home with solar panels and windmills for power and also has backup generators.

But, Monier said, patience is a virtue and the federal government is prepared to wait out the Browns.

"We have no intention of assaulting the house," he said again today. "We are committed to end this peacefully."

He said there are no federal agents in Plainfield or surveillance teams in camouflage watching the fortified home at 401 Center of Town Road. The internet is rife with rumors, he said.

On Tuesday his office was swamped with callers -- at one point about 200 calls an hour were being handled -- saying, "Don't kill the Browns," "Leave them alone," and "They didn't do anything."

The calls, he said, were prompted by an Internet web site urging people to call his office as well as that of the Sullivan County sheriff and governor.

The Browns have been holed up in their home since last January after their convictions. He has threatened violence if federal agents attempt to arrest them.

Last Thursday, dozens of heavily armed federal agents and state troopers, including SWAT teams and military and explosives vehicles, converged on Plainfield. Agents had a court order to enter the West Lebanon building housing Elaine Brown's dental practice.

That morning, a man walking the Browns' dog inadvertently came upon a surveillance team of federal agents in camouflage in the woods at the end of the couple's driveway. He was taken into custody, questioned at length and released hours later uncharged.

Ed Brown said he is convinced the federal agents were going to storm his home that day but Monier denies that.

The Browns were convicted of plotting to hide their income to avoid paying federal income taxes on Elaine Brown's income of $1.9 million between 1996 and 2003.

They were also convicted of using $215,890 in postal money orders, written in amounts to avoid the tax reporting level, to pay for their home and her dental office.

The Browns were sentenced in absentia to 63 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $215,890 to the federal government.

Source: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Power%2c+telephone%2c+Internet+access+cut+to+Browns%27+home&articleId=b25378ac-db05-4ef0-b9cd-2485c71aa716

BROWNS: DOG WALKER SAVED LIVES

Browns: Dog walker saved lives
[Claims Marshals Shot At & Tasered Him]
Source: Concord Monitor
URL Source: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070609/REPOSITORY/706090329
Published: Jun 9, 2007
Author: Margot Sanger-Katz
Post Date: 2007-06-09 16:22:17 by JoeSnuffy
6 Comments

Browns: Dog walker saved lives Supporter claims marshals chased him

By Margot Sanger-Katz Monitor staff June 09. 2007 9:01AM

Danny Riley on video talking about his interaction with goverment officials on or near the Brown compound. His shirt was off because he was showing the place where he claims a police Taser burned him.

Zoom

A day after federal and state officers swarmed near the hilltop home of tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown, the couple thanked a supporter from upstate New York, Danny Riley, for saving their lives.

Riley, who posted a video account of his experience on the internet, said he was walking the Browns' dog early Thursday when he discovered a large group of U.S marshals hiding in the woods near the Brown's Plainfield house. The marshals, he said, shot at him and shocked him with a Taser. If not for that encounter, Ed Brown said yesterday, he and his wife might be dead.

"If it wasn't for Danny Riley taking that walk yesterday morning with the dog the way he did," Brown said yesterday on his daily radio show, Ed Brown Under Siege. "The fact that he did probably saved our lives."

A law enforcement source confirmed yesterday that Riley was the man marshals detained Thursday after encountering him with a dog near the Brown property.

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said that the officers were near the fortified concrete home Thursday to watch the Browns and their supporters while marshals and IRS agents acted on a warrant to seize a commercial property owned by the couple in West Lebanon. He said his officers had never intended to arrest the Browns but wanted to monitor them in case they retaliated in response to the seizure. ---ADVERTISEMENT---

On Thursday, Monier described how officers performing surveillance near the Brown home encountered a supporter leaving the property. Marshals detained and questioned the man, but they released him without charges on Thursday afternoon.

Riley's internet video has fueled speculation on various pro-Brown websites and radio shows that marshals had intended to arrest or kill the Browns on Thursday, and were stopped only when Riley accidentally blew their cover.

"Astounding testimony from Danny Riley, the man who was arrested by U.S. Marshals after walking Ed Brown's dog near his property yesterday morning, proves that Thursday's events in Plainfield New Hampshire represent a planned siege that was only aborted after Riley's disappearance gave the Browns early warning that militarized police and SWAT teams were descending on their home," says an article on prisonplanet.com.

Ed Brown told his radio audience that the marshals' actions suggested that they intended to kill him and his wife.

"If they were willing to shoot an unarmed guest of ours," Brown said, "then their intention was to come down and kill us."

Though there had been calls Thursday for supporters to visit the Brown property, Brown said yesterday that he would prefer supporters stay put. He did request the hand delivery of a high powered ham radio and a "third-generation, good" thermal imaging scope for a rife.

"They're very expensive, but so what guys," he said. "We're going to give our lives to you if we have to."

In the video, Riley, shirtless and sitting in front of a bulletin board, gives a detailed description of his experience. After walking down the Browns' long, wooded driveway, he came face to face with a man in camouflage. When Riley asked the man if he was a turkey hunter, he initially got no reaction.

"Then all of the sudden, the guy stood right up in front of me," Riley said. "And with a full camouflage suit on and yelled, 'Freeze.' At that point I turned around and ran, ran for my life."

On the video, Riley describes hearing bullets whiz by him as he yelled to the marshals that he was unarmed. Brown said on the radio yesterday that he also heard gunfire Thursday morning from his house. But Monier said that marshals never shot at the dog walker.

"Absolutely no lethal force was ever employed towards him or against him," Monier said.

Once he started running, Riley said that several more marshals emerged from both sides of the Brown driveway. Realizing he was surrounded, he held his hands out in attempt to surrender.

Riley said, and the law enforcement source confirmed, that marshals shocked him with a Taser before handcuffing him and placing him in a vehicle. Riley said that marshals, whose badges identified them as "special operations unit," asked him about who was at the house, what weapons were there and whether the Browns had a bomb.

Then, Riley said, marshals were uncertain of how to use him. Initially, they asked him to help ask the Browns to surrender and drove him past armored vehicles, a helicopter and an ambulance. But the marshals decided against the strategy, he said, and took Riley to the Lebanon police station instead, where they questioned him for several more hours.

In the afternoon, Riley was released about a mile from the house, he said, and instructed to tell the Browns that he was arrested by two officers involved with the seizure. He said marshals threatened him with prison time if he assisted the Browns again or told his story to journalists.

He told the two-officer story to the Browns, he said, but the couple already knew about his run-in with the marshals because of phone calls from neighbors and information from reporters.

"They pretty much already knew the deal," Riley said on the video.

Riley said that after he returned to New York, he discovered a message on his cell phone from another Brown supporter who said he'd been arrested.

Monier said yesterday that his office had not detained or arrested anyone but the dog walker.

Ed and Elaine Brown were both convicted of multiple federal felonies in January. The jury found that the Browns had evaded taxes on $1.9 million in income from Elaine Brown's dental practice and that the couple had broken large financial transactions into small increments to avoid federal reporting rules. The couple maintain that there are no laws that require them to pay federal income taxes and that the court that convicted them was a "fiction."

Midway through their trial, Ed Brown retreated to the couple's home, where they have long stockpiled food and can operate without municipal power or water. A few weeks after their conviction, Elaine Brown, who had been free on restrictive bail conditions, joined her husband.

Since then, they have remained at home, entertaining a rotating cast of supporters and making repeated statements that any attempt to arrest them will end violently. In April, each was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Monier, charged with arresting the couple on bench warrants, has taken a low-key approach to their capture. Though he acknowledged Thursday that he has sent officers to quietly check in on the couple, he has not established a visible presence near the house and has limited his communications to phone calls urging the Browns to surrender. He has said often that he does not plan to raid the Browns' home.

Thursday's actions, if not an arrest attempt, marked a change in style. Armored vehicles, SWAT teams and helicopters were sent to Plainfield, and dozens of state troopers blocked roads near the home. Monier said it was important to seize the West Lebanon building this week because of ongoing concerns about its security.

Phone and internet service at the Brown house, which had been disconnected by marshals on Thursday, were working again for much of yesterday, allowing the Browns to appear on a number of radio talk shows and post updates to their MySpace website.By 3 p.m., however, phone service was again cut off. On a website frequented by supporters, a poster said that the personal cell phone of Cirino Gonzales, a man who is living with the Browns, had also been disabled.

------ End of article

By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ

Source: http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=190515