Friday, December 11, 1998

How to deal with fraud and theft

The verdict on the Montana Freemen is in, and so is a lesson in how to deal with criminally minded anti-government groups.

Through a tortured misreading of history, the Freemen profess to believe the American government is illegitimate and that this somehow absolves them from obeying its laws. They have proceeded to defraud banks and individuals through phony checks and loan schemes.

After an 81-day standoff at their secessionist "Justus Township" farm, they were arrested on fraud and robbery charges. In a Billings courtroom, federal prosecutors bored in on the facts of the case, ignoring their disruptive tactics and obstructionist attempts to challenge the court’s jurisdiction, along with various ravings about the Magna Carta and whether the U.S. Constitution was properly adopted.

Nine of the 10 Freemen were found guilty. Underneath all that anti-government cant, the Freemen are, as the jury found them to be, con artists.