Militia member who targeted judge is 1st nationwide to be sentenced under anti-retaliation law

Militia member is 1st sentenced for retaliation

MINNEAPOLIS — An original member of the Montana Freemen — an anti-government group that conspired against the banking system in the 1990s and held an 81-day standoff with FBI agents — has been sentenced to 7½ years in prison for retaliating against three federal judges.

Daniel Petersen, 67, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul on six counts of filing a false lien or encumbrance against a federal judge. He is the first person to be sentenced under a 2008 federal law that makes it a felony to retaliate against a government official by filing false liens, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota.

“This prosecution, hopefully, will impress upon Petersen and others that, regardless of their beliefs, they will be prosecuted if they break the law, and their attempts at retaliation or intimidation will not succeed,” U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones said in a statement.

Before the law was enacted, prosecutors really had no way of stopping people from filing liens in attempts to damage someone’s property records, said Jeanne Cooney, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office. She noted that even if the liens are based on illegitimate documents, a property owner still must take legal action to clear his or her name.

“Filing liens is a favorite pastime for some of the anti-tax and anti-government folks,” Cooney said. “The law was really an attempt to quash some of this activity.”

Petersen was in the custody of U.S. Marshals on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. He represented himself during his October trial. Court documents show that in his closing argument, he referred to his victims as “greedy scoundrels” and said he hoped they would lose their homes as a result of his liens.

Petersen is a founder of the Montana Freemen, an anti-government group that created its own “state,” called Justus Township, in Montana. The group funded itself by filing bogus multimillion-dollar liens against public officials and others who crossed them, then issuing phony checks against the liens.

In 1996, Petersen and the group’s leader, LeRoy Schweitzer, were arrested on fraud and conspiracy charges. Afterward, other members barricaded themselves on the 960-acre ranch and held the FBI at bay for 81 days. They surrendered without a shot being fired.

Petersen, believed to be the No. 2 man in the hierarchy, was convicted on 19 counts and sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Washington state to 15 years in prison.

While serving his sentence in a federal prison in Minnesota, Petersen devised a plan to retaliate against Coughenour, as well as two federal judges in Texas.

While in custody, Petersen sent a 10-page, handwritten letter to then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright, demanding $100 trillion, plus $1 billion per day in interest, for unlawfully confining him. When Albright didn’t respond, he obtained a “judgment” against the U.S. through the Common Law Court of Justus Township, a court the Montana Freemen created, prosecutors said.

With his $100 trillion judgment, Petersen began filing liens against the real property of the three federal judges and issued “bounties” for the judges’ arrests, offering rewards to anyone who brought them to Minnesota. He claimed that as federal officers, the judges were financially liable for his judgment against the United States.

Petersen also created a phony company with his judgment. He then got inmates to invest in the company, saying they could redeem certificates for payment after he collected money the government owed him.

Coughenour, the Washington judge who sentenced Petersen in 1999, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings in Texas had no comment on Petersen’s sentence, and U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks in Texas also did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.

In addition to maintaining they are sovereign and not subject to federal or state laws, the Freemen also claim God intended white people to rule the earth. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the group also has racist and anti-Semitic beliefs.