Friday, October 17, 2008

This Week's IRS "Hall of Shame" Inductee: Edward and Elaine Brown

In January of 2007, a jury found Edward Brown guilty of three counts of federal tax evasion, and a few weeks later his wife, Elaine, was found guilty on seventeen tax fraud related charges.

Combined, the two did not report about 2 million dollars in taxable income and were each sentenced to five years in prison.

Who are these people? Elaine was a dentist, and Ed was retired from a pest control business. The couple lived in New Hampshire. Doesn't seem too exciting, does it?

But what really inducts this couple into the hall of shame is that after being found guilty, they refused to surrender to the federal government. A lengthy, armed standoff ensued. Why would they do this, facing gunned men and the US Government against them? The Browns said they had not been shown any legitimate law requiring them to pay taxes, so they felt they should not be forced to pay.

Where are they now? Edward Brown is imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois. Elaine Brown is imprisoned at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, near Fort Worth, Texas.

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