Year 2006 and 2007 Tax-related Indictment, Trial and Convictions
In April 2006, Edward and Elaine Brown were indicted in the United States District Court in New Hampshire for numerous federal tax violations.
Prosecutors in the Browns' case presented evidence that the Browns had not paid income tax since 1996 and had not filed income tax returns since 1998; they were liable for taxes of more than $625,000.
The Browns initially chose to represent themselves, without the help of a court-appointed lawyer. Halfway through the trial Ed Brown decided not to return to the court, while Elaine Brown chose to enlist the help of a court-appointed lawyer to defend her and negotiate any possible plea bargain offered by the federal prosecutor.
The Browns claimed they had not been presented with any law that required them to pay income taxes to the federal government, an argument similar to many tax protester statutory arguments.
Edward Brown stopped attending his case halfway through the trial. On January 18, 2007, Edward Brown was found guilty by a jury in a Federal District Court in Concord, New Hampshire of three criminal charges relating to his refusal to pay taxes to the US government.
The same jury also found Elaine Brown guilty of 17 tax-related criminal charges, including tax evasion and withholding employment taxes. The tax evasion convictions of Mrs. Brown involved the failure to report income of $1,310,706 over a period of five years. Each was sentenced to over five years in prison.
Before granting Elaine Brown's release on bail, the judge of the Browns' trial ordered her not to return to the Browns' home before sentencing. As a condition of her bail agreement with the state, she was ordered to live at her son's home in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she had been living prior to the trial. A tracking device was attached to her, and she was given permission to leave her son's home only if he was accompanying her; she later violated the terms of her release by destroying this device and rejoining her husband.
On April 14, 2007, the Concord Monitor reported that Ed and Elaine Brown "recently ordered the clerk of the court to close their case, citing themselves as 'the court' and 'judge'." The Browns reportedly signed their filings with the court using new names: "Edward, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel," and "Elaine, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel." The court rejected the filings, ruling them frivolous.
Read more about this topic: Edward And Elaine Brown
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