Arrest, Trial and Conviction
In June 2003, Simkanin was arrested and arraigned on various tax charges . On January 7, 2004, he was convicted by a United States federal court on ten counts of willfully failing to collect and pay over employment taxes under 26 U.S.C. § 7202, fifteen counts of knowingly making and presenting false, fictitious or fraudulent claims for refund of employment taxes under 18 U.S.C. § 287 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and four counts of willfully failing to timely file federal income tax returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7203. His convictions were upheld on appeal.
Simkanin was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. After the sentencing, the Houston Chronicle reported: "U.S. District Judge John McBryde said during the sentencing that Simkanin was 'entrenched' in a 'cultlike' anti-government group that 'holds nothing but contempt for the laws of the United States. McBryde ordered Simkanin to pay the government $302,076 in restitution." The Houston Chronicle also reported that a prosecutor indicated that Internal Revenue Service agents and prosecutors had given Simkanin "repeated opportunities to reconsider his position and begin paying taxes" before the government began criminal prosecution. Assistant United States Attorney David Jarvis was quoted as saying "I guess he just figured we wouldn't do anything."
Simkanin was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at Texarkana, Texas. He was released on June 18, 2010, one day prior to his scheduled release date. However, on June 23, 2010, he was order jailed again, pending a hearing to be held on July 1, 2010, regarding alleged violations of his terms of release.
On July 2, 2010, his terms of release were revoked, and the Court sentenced him to an additional six years and seven months in prison. He was incarcerated at the Beaumont Low Federal Correctional Complex at Beaumont, Texas, and had been scheduled for release on March 18, 2016.
While serving his sentence, Simkanin died on December 28, 2010, at the age of sixty-seven.
Read more about this topic: Richard Michael Simkanin
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