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Last updated July 21, 1997

Calendar of Conspiracy: A Chronology of Anti-Government
Extremist Criminal Activity, January to June 1997

A Militia Watchdog Special Report

INTRODUCTION

The following is a chronology of some of the events surrounding anti-government
criminal activity in the United States during the first half of the year 1997. It illustrates
both the scope of such activity—from large-scale acts of terrorism to local acts of
harassment and intimidation—and its geographic extent—from major cities like Los
Angeles and New York to remote rural areas in Texas and Montana. The chronology is
not comprehensive. Although all major events are included, no systemized reporting
system exists for smaller scale events. As a result, arrests or convictions for charges such
as placing bogus liens, impersonating a public official or committing similar offenses are
considerably underrepresented in this report. Such activities occur with a high level of
frequency across the nation. More than thirty-three states are listed in this report;
however, incidents are occurring in every state.

JANUARY

January 2, South Dakota: In Rapid City, South Dakota, "freeman" Bill Huseby is bound
over for trial. He is charged with sending false documents to the Pennington county
Sheriff’s Office, a former judge, and a private citizen; also, three misdemeanor charges.

January 6, Washington: Seattle resident Richard Frank Burton, arrested with eight other
individuals last July on various weapons and conspiracy charges, pleads guilty in U.S.
District court to one count of conspiracy and three other charges. His wife, Caitlin
Hansen, pleads guilty to one count of destroying and concealing evidence. A third
individual, Theodore Carter, pleads guilty to one conspiracy charge and agrees to testify
against his fellow defendants. The three are part of a mixed group of militia members
and "sovereign citizens."

January 6, Oklahoma: Three common–law court advocates plead guilty in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, to a federal conspiracy charge. Kenny Moore, Colleen Moore and Wayne
Gunwall had filed bogus liens on IRS agents to the amount of $7 million, and had issued
"citizens arrest warrants" against several federal officials. The trial of another defendant,
Dan Meador, begins on January 8.

January 10, Oklahoma: Dan Meador is convicted of obstructing justice and illegally
communicating with a member of a federal grand jury (see above).

January 13, Virginia: Two Mechanicsville, VA, residents are sentenced to eighteen
months in prison on tax evasion charges. Jerry Martin and his wife Sadie Martin,
Christian Identity adherents, were "sovereign citizens" who denied the legal existence of
the United States.

January 16, Oregon: Common law court activist Charles Stewart, leader of a Portland,
Oregon group, tries "in absentia" seven IRS agents at his Kangaroo court. Two weeks
later, the "court" rules that four of the agents should pay fines of $100,000 each for
seizing a Portland home. However, it was up to the man whose home was seized to
collect the money.

January 22, Georgia, North Carolina: District Attorney Albert Taylor, Jr., prosecutor for
the Enotah Circuit in Georgia, requests and receives a "writ of non molestando" to stop a
"sovereign citizen," Melvin Julius Robinson, from harassing him. Robinson’s actions
included filing a $100 million frivolous lawsuit against him and demanding that Taylor
appear before the "Our One Supreme Court" of Franklin, North Carolina. In response,
Taylor dusted off an ancient writ that probably had never been used in the state to
restrain Robinson from using the legal process to "molest, vilify, obstruct, or hinder" the
lawful discharge of official duties.

January 24, Missouri: Five common law court advocates in Lincoln County, Missouri,
are sentenced to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine, and a sixth, Dennis Logan, is
sentenced to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The defendants were charged with
tampering with a judicial official—specifically, filing a $10.8 million bogus lien against
a judge to force him to drop a speeding case involving the daughter of one of the
defendants. Nine other defendants, also convicted, have yet to be sentenced.

January 24, Minnesota: Michael Moeller is charged in Winona County, Minnesota, of
making terroristic threats. Moeller, a militia sympathizer, threatened to blow up the
headquarters of the state Department of Natural Resources, where he formerly worked.

January 28, Wisconsin: Sally Minniecheske, the wife of Wisconsin Posse Comitatus
leader Donald Minniecheskie, is sentenced to nine months for disorderly conduct,
obstructing an officer and fleeing arrest. The charges stemmed from a 1995 incident
during a property seizure in which Minniecheskie threatened a police chief and led him
on a car chase through Tigerton, Wisconsin. The Minniecheskies have been involved in
anti-government activities in Tigerton for more than twenty years.

January 30, Pennsylvania: In Philadelphia, Christian Identity minister Mark Thomas is
indicted on conspiracy charges related to the armed robberies committed by the

"Midwestern Bank Bandits," who dubbed themselves the "Aryan Republican Army."
Also arrested is Michael Brescia. Brescia and Thomas bring the total number arrested for
these robberies to six.

January 30, Mississippi, Tennessee: Armed militia members from Mississippi precipitate
an unexpected standoff near Memphis, Tennessee, when they show up to halt the
eviction of two Southaven residents from their home. Local officials back away from the
eviction and say they will pursue the matter in court some more.

FEBRUARY

February 6, California: Two California men are found guilty of fraud in San Jose for
passing bogus checks created by the Montana Freemen. The jury finds Robert Young
guilty of conspiracy, three counts of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and one count
of filing a false claim with the IRS. Frank Pepper is convicted on two counts of mail
fraud. Two other defendants, Leonard Ferrier and Dawn Onalfo, had plead guilty before
the trial.

February 10, Connecticut: Nena Frankle and John Barney are arrested by local police on
charges of interfering with police and criminal trespass, after they resisted attempts by
authorities in Connecticut to take possession of their foreclosed residence. Frankle and
Barney are members of a group of Connecticut common law court advocates and tax
protesters which advocates such resistance.

February 10, Ohio: Peter Langan is convicted in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, of five
felonies related to 1994 armed robberies of banks in Columbus and Cincinnati. Langan is
the leader of the "Midwestern Bank Bandits," who claimed to engage in armed robbery
to support their revolutionary struggle.

February 14, Missouri: The remaining seven common law court activists of the thirteen
convicted earlier in Missouri receive their sentences: six activists sentenced to two years
in prison and a seventh activist to seven years. All additionally must pay a $5,000 fine.

Ca. February 15, Washington: Charles Miller and three other men are arrested in
Washington on sixteen counts of conspiracy to defraud banks, mail fraud, and interstate
transportation of stolen property. Another accomplice, Kathleen Cottam, was arrested
earlier and pled guilty. The suspects had obtained bogus money orders from Montana
Freeman leader LeRoy Schweitzer in 1995 and had been using them to buy cars and
motor homes in Washington. Charles Christenson, Kurt Gilson, and Veryl Knowles were
also arrested.

February 15, Ohio, Washington, Arkansas, Montana, Utah: Near Wilmington, Ohio,
Chevie and Cheyne Kehoe, two brothers from Washington, engage in two shootouts with
local police during and following a routine traffic stop. A bystander is wounded. The
Kehoes, Christian Identity adherents with ties to Aryan Nations and other white
supremacist groups, avoid an intensive manhunt and vanish along with their families.

Their mobile home is later found near Casper, Wyoming. Chevie Kehoe is wanted for
questioning in connection with the murders of an Arkansas gun dealer with ties to the
militia movement, and his family.

February 18, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Aryan Nations leader Mark Thomas pleads
guilty to plotting seven bank robberies and using the cash to further the cause of white
supremacy in connection with the Midwestern Bank Bandits.

February 20, Georgia: Three Georgia militia members receive stiff sentences for their
roles in a conspiracy to build pipe bombs for use against the federal government. Bob
Starr is given 8 years, one month; while James McCranie and Troy Spain are sentenced
to six ½ years in prison each.

February 20, Minnesota: Three Minnesota residents receive convictions for attempting to
pass bogus checks obtained from the Montana Freemen. Marilyn Kerkvliet and Robert
Leffler are convicted of eight counts of mail fraud and passing counterfeit checks each.
Ronald Kerkvliet is convicted of a single count of mail fraud.

February 21, Montana, North Carolina: The first conviction arrives for members of the
Montana Freemen, who held off authorities for 81 days in the spring of 1996. Russell
Landers and an associate, James Vincent Wells, are convicted of seven and twelve
federal fraud and conspiracy counts, respectively, ending a trial marked by combative
behavior by Landers. The two used bogus money orders to purchase vehicles to drive
back to Montana.

February 21, Washington: Supporters of the Washington militia/freemen defendants on
trial in Seattle file a $1.76 billion lien against the judge, John Coughenour, and five
prosecutors.

February 24, Texas: Local authorities in Texas issue an arrest warrant for Rick McLaren,
leader of the secessionist common-law group, "The Republic of Texas," after McLaren
failed to appear for a preliminary hearing on a 1995 burglary charge. However,
authorities take no steps to arrest McLaren, who is barricaded in a remote West Texas
settlement.

February 28, Washington: The Washington militia/freemen explosives conspiracy case
ends in a mistrial. The mistrial is declared on federal conspiracy charges against seven
people, while four defendants are convicted of weapons charges. Washington State
Militia founder John Pitner is convicted of possession and transfer of machine guns.
John Lloyd Kirk and Marlin Lane Mack is convicted of possession of unregistered
destructive device. Gary Marvin Kuehnoel is convicted of possession of a machine gun.
Jururs can not reach verdicts on additional weapons charges against Kirk and his wife
Judy Carol Kirk, and against Kuehnoel. Kuehnoel is found innocent of three counts of
possession of unregistered firearm. An eighth defendant previously had pled guilty.

MARCH

March 1, Wisconsin: $2 million cash bond is ordered for Wisconsin man charged with
hiring a hit man to murder his estranged wife and her father. James Schuman, the man
charged, is a member of Wisconsin Militia.

March 2, Washington, Idaho: Trial begins for Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Jay
Merrell, Christian Identity white supremacists part of a bank-robbing gang in Spokane,
WA, area associated with the Phineas Priesthood.

March 2, Ohio: Ohio Aryan Nations member Morris Gulett is arrested for ramming a
Dayton police cruiser then fleeing.

March 3, New Hampshire: New Hampshire militia leader pleads guilty to federal charges
of stealing $100,000 in equipment from Fort Devens Army base. Fitzhugh MacCrae,
member of Hillsborough County Dragoons, admits to three counts. He is the second
Dragoon to plead guilty.

March 3, Texas: "Republic of Texas" member John Albert Crain files $27 million
lawsuit over three traffic tickets in San Angelo. The atmosphere between "Republic of
Texas" members and the real government of Texas grows increasingly tense.

March 4, Texas: Pecos County Sheriff Steve Bailey warns he may have to use extreme
measures to arrest Richard McLaren, "ambassador" for the Republic of Texas, for
warrants on burglary and failure to appear in court. McLaren is holed up in a housing
resort west of Fort Davis, Texas.

March 6, Wisconsin: Federal prosecutors go to court to stop two Milwaukee area men,
Robert Raymond and Robert Bernhoft, from selling their "De-Taxing America
Program."

March 9, Oregon: Salem, Oregon, Militia leader Michael Cross is sentenced to five years
on probation for pleading guilty to criminal mistreatment after receiving $25,000 gift
from an elderly foster-care resident.

Ca. March 9, Texas: Members of extremist group Republic of Texas begin
"impeachment" proceedings against Richard McLaren as the group, under pressure from
law enforcement authorities, fragments.

March 10, California: Elizabeth Broderick of Palmdale, California, is sentenced to nearly
seventeen years in prison on 28 charges related to selling more than 8,000 fraudulent
"Comptroller Warrants" with a face value of more than $800 million. Several
accomplices also receive prison sentences in subsequent weeks.

March 12, Connecticut: "Sovereign citizens" John Barney and Nina Barney of Salisbury,
CT, appear in court on charges of criminal trespass and interfering with police. They are
members of a common law court and they refuse to vacate the properties where they live
despite having hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of unpaid loans.

March 13, Washington, Idaho: FBI agents arrest a fourth suspect, Brian Ratigan, in the
Spokane bombings, about the same time as the prosecution rests in the trial of three other

suspects.

March 13, Oklahoma: Former Tulsa opera singer Carol Elizabeth Howe is indicted in
Federal court in Tulsa, accused of willfully making a bomb threat, possession of a non-
registered destructive device and conspiracy. James Dodson Viefhous, already in
custody, is also indicted. The two are founders and members of the National Socialist
Alliance of Oklahoma, as well as part of the Aryan Intelligence Network. They left a
message on this phone network that bombs would be detonated in 15 US cities unless
action was taken by December 15 by "white warriors" against the government of the
U.S.

March 13, Ohio, Pennsylvania: Aryan Republican Army members Scott Stedeford and
Peter Langan plead not guilty to conspiracy charges related to bank robberies they
carried out. Both have been previously convicted on armed robbery charges. Mark
Thomas, an Aryan Nations leader in Pennsylvania, previously pled guilty to the charges.
Thomas and another defendant are cooperating with government investigators; a fifth
defendant, Michael Brescia, is jailed and awaiting trial. Another suspect committed
suicide in jail.

March 17, Montana, Indiana: Joe Holland, leader of the North American Volunteer
Militia, is sentenced in Missoula, Montana, to 10 years in prison for jury tampering and
advocating violence. He is also indicted on charges in Indiana.

March 17, Texas: Texas officials issue two more (civil) arrest warrants against Republic
of Texas members Robert Kesterson ("secretary of state") and Carolyn Carney
("secretary of inter-agency coordination").

March 17, California: California "Patriot" Timothy Paul Kootenay, is sentenced to 300
days in county jail and four years’ probation after pleading guilty to purchasing assault
rifles with bogus money orders issued by Family Farm Preservation, a "patriot" group
linked with the Posse Comitatus.

March 19, Arizona: Six members of the Arizona Viper Militia are sentenced to jail terms
for conspiracy to make bombs. The longest sentence is nine years. All had pled guilty.
The number eventually increases to 10 who plead guilty. Two do not and will go to trial.

March 21, Ohio: The FBI and ATF jointly post a $60,000 reward for information leading
to the arrests of Aryan Nations members Cheyne and Chevie Kehoe for shooting at
police officers in Ohio in February. The Kehoe brothers are thought to have fled back to
their Spokane area origins.

March 21, Alabama: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously affirms the
capital murder conviction of a "patriot," George Sibley, Jr., found guilty in the 1993
shooting death of an Opelika police officer. His common-law wife, Linda Lyon Block, is
also on death row for the same offense.

March 25, North Carolina: Dunn, North Carolina, resident Arvalee McLamb is fined
$5,000 and sentenced to five months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to file a
federal income tax return. McLamb had ties to the Montana Freemen; he is also charged

in a federal indictment of various crimes committed in connection with James Vincent
Wells and Montana Freeman Russell Landers. McLamb and Wells belonged to an
extremist group innocuously called ‘The Civil Rights Task Force."

March 25, Kansas: Two Kansas residents are convicted in Tulsa for passing Montana
Freemen checks. Bill and Karen Hanzlicek were found guilty of conspiracy, bank fraud,
mail fraud and passing a counterfeit check.

March 26, Florida: In Stuart, Florida, John Foster, is charged with obtaining $662,000 in
bogus checks from the Montana Freemen and using them to pay off the IRS and his
mortgage company.

March 26, Ohio: In Columbus, Ohio, common law court activist Larry Russell is found
guilty of escape and sentenced to 1 ½ years in prison. He fled Ohio following a failed
attempt to arrest him for driving without a license, after which he was charged with
assaulting a police officer and escape, but was arrested at the Alaska border and
extradited.

March 27, Nevada: Nevada militia man Harry Tootle is convicted on charges of drawing
a gun on a security guard, then resisting arrest.

March 27, Arkansas, Missouri: Arkansas citizen Robert Joos is convicted of resisting
arrest and carrying a concealed weapon during a confrontation with Missouri State
Highway Patrol troopers in 1994. The troopers were attempting to arrest him near his
church commune (the "Sacerdotal Order of the David Company") in connection with a
1987 misdemeanor conviction involving a false court summons served to a trooper. Law
enforcement authorities are still searching for Timothy Thomas Coombs, wanted for
shooting and seriously wounding a state trooper in retaliation for Joos’ arrest.

March 29, South Carolina, Oregon: In Anderson, SC, Embassy of Heaven member Frank
Lewis stages a seven day hunger strike when arrested for driving without a license and
operating an uninsured vehicle. This is one of many hunger strikes staged by members of
the group, which preaches against all forms of government interference. The Embassy of
Heaven issues fake drivers licenses, plates, and registrations for its members; these are
purchased by people all over the country. In late winter, Embassy of Heaven members
are evicted from their "church" in Sublimity, Oregon, for nonpayment of county taxes.

March 30, Michigan: Kalamazoo, Michigan, militia member Brendon Blasz is arrested
and indicted on suspicion of making pipe bombs and other illegal explosives. Blasz and
his "small militia band" planned to bomb the federal building in Battle Creek, an IRS
building, a television station and federal armies, according to an affidavit by an
informant. The Michigan Militia claims to have expelled them in 1995.

APRIL

April 2, Washington, Idaho: The jury hearing Spokane bank bandits case convicts the

three defendants on illegal weapons charges and stolen vehicle charges, but deadlocks on
the more serious bank robbery and bombing charges when a sole jury member,
sympathetic to the right-wing extremists, refuses to convict.

April 3, California: A Berkeley, California, woman, Mary Margaret Lund, is convicted
of using bogus checks to purchase a motorhome in January 1996. She passed more than
$223,000 worth of bad checks.

April 5, Montana: Fourteen of the infamous "Montana Freemen" are hit with a 40-count
indictment that will take the place of earlier indictments against them. Charges include
multiple counts of conspiracy bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, false claims, threats to
public officials and weapons charges. A second indictment charges eight people with
helping fugitives escape arrest.

April 7, Washington: Gary Kuehnol, one of the seven Washington militia/freemen
charged with conspiracy (see above), pleads guilty to a charge of transferring a machine
gun to a federal informer. He will not face new conspiracy charges as a result of the
agreement. Another participant, Caitlin Hansen, earlier pled guilty to obstruction of
justice and was sentenced to three years of probation. Six still await a new trial.

April 8, Montana: Pre-trial hearings begin for the Montana Freemen.

April 8, Washington: A Clark County, Washington, motorist is arrested with 2 loaded
handguns, a bogus license plate, and a concealed weapons "permit" issued by the "State
Militia." Jed Carson was cited on suspicion of operating a vehicle with illegal plates,
carrying loaded weapons in a vehicle, driving without a license and failure to provide
proof of insurance. The plate read "SOV, 064-MNE, States of America united, America
the Republic." His "sales contract" for his vehicle was from the "British West Indies," a
non-existent country.

April 11, New York: A jury convicts New York city police officer Jose Lugo on tax
charges related to nonpayment of taxes on $163,000 of income. Ten other police officers
have been convicted on similar charges; four more are facing prosecution. The officers
apparently got the idea from Indiana militia leader Joe Holland and other tax protest
leaders.

April 19, Idaho: New militia group forms in Idaho County, Idaho, called the "Idaho
Mountain Boys." Its leader warns that if the county enforces building codes, the militia
will be ready to intervene.

April 20, Texas: Republic of Texas leader Richard McLaren vows war if authorities try
to arrest him. "Once they make the move," he says, ‘we’ll have millions of Americans on
our side – including every militia in the country. We’re talking war here."

April 20, Montana: Marc and Cheryl Andrea, of Florence, Montana, are indicted for
recruiting 125 Missoula area residents into a California-based tax protest organization.

April 22, Texas: Republic of Texas member Jo Ann Canaday Turner (see above) is
arrested on two counts of contempt of court for filing a fraudulent lien in violation of a

court order and for not attending a hearing.

April 22, Ohio: Ohio Aryan Nations member Larry Wayne Harris receives a probation
sentence after pleading guilty to a single count of wire fraud for obtaining samples of
bubonic plague.

April 23, Texas: The FBI arrests three men and one woman for planning a bomb attack
on a gas refinery northwest of Fort Worth. The planned bombing was to divert attention
from an armored car robbery that would finance their extremist activities. The suspects
have Klan ties.

April 23, California: White supremacist Todd Vanbiber of Winter Park is injured while
making a pipe bomb; the weapon blows up in his face. Investigating authorities find
materials linking Vanbiber to the neo-Nazi National Alliance, as well as 14 unexploded
pipe bombs.

April 27, Texas: After police arrest Republic of Texas "chief of security," Bob Scheidt,
on weapons possession charges, Republic of Texas members ordered by Richard
McLaren storm a nearby residence, firing shots, to kidnap two neighbors as hostages.
The incident begins a standoff. The two hostages, a man and his wife, were vocal
opponents of McLaren.

April 28, Texas: After twelve hours of captivity, Joe and Margaret Ann Rowe are
released by Republic of Texas members after authorities swap jailed ROT member Bob
Scheidt for the two. Formal charges are filed against six ROT members, from engaging
in organized criminal activity to aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon.

April 28, California: A huge blast in a Olivehurst, California, home leads to the arrest of
sympathizer William Goehler (a convicted rapist), charged with possessing explosives.
Goehler suffered a neck injury in the blast at his home, while his wife and one of this
children were slightly injured. The explosive material was in a tree outside the home.
Goehler is associated with the Twin Cities Free Militia. The previous year, he traveled to
Jordan, Montana, to show his support for the Montana Freemen.

April 28, Texas: Leaders of the other factions of the splintered Republic of Texas group,
Archie Lowe and David Johnson, distance themselves from Richard McLaren.

April 28, Texas: A Texas Ranger assault team arrives at Ft. Davis, Texas. About 200 law
enforcement officers surround McLaren’s location, where close to 10 Republic of Texas
members are holed up.

April 29, Texas: Two armored personnel carriers arrive at Ft. Davis. They are named
"Bubba One" and "Bubba Two."

April 30, Texas: Texas Rangers arrest seven individuals in two vehicles at a truck stop in
Pecos, Texas, with a supply of fully automatic assault weapons and some explosive
materials. The individuals were on their way to join Richard McLaren. A few others are
also stopped in following days, but the massive action predicted by McLaren does not
occur. Meanwhile, McLaren and authorities talk sporadically by fax and phone.

McLaren eventually breaks off negotiations.

April 30, California: Following the arrest of William Goehler (see above) on explosives
charges, two associates of his, Kevin Quinn and Vernon Weckner, were arrested in Yuba
City, California, and 500 pounds of the volatile explosive petrogel were found. Weckner
is one of the central militia organizers in northern California; he also is a common law
activist and a tax protester.

MAY

Ca. May 1, Oregon: Common law court advocates Dick Lancial and Thor Lancial are
indicted by a grand jury in Multnomah County, Oregon, on multiple counts of forgery
and simulating the legal process for their common law court activities.

May 1, New York: Bronx-area extremist blows his hand off in his apartment booby-
trapped with homemade bombs. The man, John Saperstein, an unemployed construction
worker, had at least five bombs in his apartment. Neighbors indicated that Saperstein
talked a lot about the "Patriots of America" and the militia.

May 1, Colorado: Federal agents arrest Colorado militia leader Ron Cole (the "Colorado
First Light Infantry") and two other militia members on weapons charges in the Denver
suburb of Aurora, Colorado. Authorities seize weapons and explosives materials. Ron
Cole, who claims to be a militant Branch Davidian, has been one of the more vocal
militia leaders in recent months. Police find six fully automatic AK-47 rifles, three land
mines, 75 pounds of rocket fuel, a pipe bomb, and much ammunition.

May 1, Florida: Brevard County (FL) militia member Brian Edward Lanier is arrested
after making threats that he would kill himself on the state seal and blow up an insurance
building. He was held on an outstanding warrant from another county for a 1989
aggravated assault.

May 1, Texas : Police negotiators send Richard McLaren a "final offer" and threaten to
move in to arrest them. They also cut off power to his trailer.

May 2, California: Police investigating the Yuba County explosives ring of Vernon
Weckner, Kevin Quinn, and William Goehler, arrest three more men, Jason Fox, Edward
Whitlow and Robert Scott Deaver, charged with possessing explosives. The six plead not
guilty.

May 2, Texas: Republic of Texas member Robert Scheidt surrenders to authorities
surrounding McLaren’s "embassy." Meanwhile, police units move closer to the
compound. Richard McLaren issues a plea for "reinforcements" and he and four
followers fax their wills to state police.

May 2, Washington: Richard Frank Burton, who pled guilty to possessing pipe bombs
and other charges in connection with the Washington militia/freemen bombmaking

conspiracy, is sentenced to 46 months in prison.

May 3, Colorado: Arsonists destroy IRS offices in a building in Colorado Springs, spray-
painting "AAR" or "ARA" inside the building. They cause more than $1 million in
damage.

May 3, Texas: Most of the remaining Republic of Texas members surrender to
authorities. Richard McLaren, his wife Evelyn, and three followers (Richard Otto, Greg
and Karen Paulson), walk out of their hideout after signing a "cease-fire" agreement with
Texas Rangers. Two members, Richard Keys and Mike Matson, decided not to surrender
and fled into the Davis Mountains. Authorities began a search with bloodhounds,
helicopters, and troopers on horseback. Police find more than 60 pipe bombs at the
"embassy."

May 5, Texas: One or both of the two Republic of Texas fugitives fire shots at
bloodhounds, wounding two of them, in the remote Davis Mountains. Later that day,
police shoot and kill one of the two fugitives. The other apparently escapes. Meanwhile,
Richard and Evelyn McLaren are indicted on charges that could bring up to hundreds of
years in prison.

May 8, Texas: Five more Republic of Texas members are arrested as part of McLaren’s
scheme to issue $1.8 billion in bogus warrants: Jasper Edward Baccus, Joe Louis Reece,
Steven Craig Crear, Erwin Leo Brown, and Mark Anthony Hernandez. Also arrested is
Republic of Texas leader Robert Kesterson, on three counts of contempt of court out of
Travis County, where he filed bogus liens and other documents in violation of a judge’s
order. Donald Joe Varnell was another member arrested on contempt of court charges.
State authorities also filed suit against Carolyn Carney for nonpayment of taxes. Other
leaders, including Archie Lowe and Darrell Franks, are also charged with contempt.

May 9, California: LA police arrest five militia members, seizing a grenade launcher,
hand grenades, hand grenade components, automatic assault rifles, body armor, night
vision goggles, and over 100 different types of weapons. Arrested are Glenn Yee, a
reserve police officer, Alvin Ung, Mark Grand, Timothy Swanson and Raymond
Durand. None have any previous criminal history. Police say more arrests are expected;
the suspects were allegedly planning to attack several Southern California targets.
Durand is later said not to be associated with the militia suspects, but rather a separate
case.

May 10, California: A seventh man, Daniel Sparhawk, is arrested in connection with the
Yuba explosives case, on charges of possessing two tubes of petrogel. His girlfriend,
Tina Lorene Terrell, is also arrested, bringing the total number to ten.

May 12, New Hampshire: New Hampshire militia leader Brian Chabot pleads guilty to
his role in theft of $100,000 worth of military equipment (see above). Chabot is the third
of three to plead guilty.

May 16, Wisconsin: Three members of anti-tax group in Wisconsin are given a 20-count
indictment charging them with tax fraud. These members of Sovereign Citizens for
Liberty, Frank A. Wysocki, Alan Cooper and Robert Iacoe, sold "untax" packages to

gullible people.

May 17, Oregon: Portland, Oregon, area resident James Bell, active in militia and
common law court groups, is arrested by the IRS for obstructing the IRS. Among other
things, Bell devised a project called "Operation LocatIRS" to learn the home addresses
of IRS employees in order to intimidate them. He is also suspected of having used a
chemical called mercaptan in a March 16 stink-bombing of an IRS office. Bell is more
well known for his Internet essay "Assassination Politics," which proposed a system of
rewards for people who predict the deaths of government officials.

May 19, Montana, North Carolina: Russell Dean Landers and Vincent Wells, two of the
Montana Freemen defendants, are sentenced in Wilmington, NC, on charges of
conspiring to commit bank fraud, intimidate IRS agents and transport stolen property
across state lines.

May 20, Pennsylvania: In federal court in Philadelphia, Michael Brescia pleads guilty to
charges of conspiracy and armed robbery and agreed to testify against fellow members
of the Aryan Republican Army.

May 21, Oklahoma: Tax protester Wayne Gunwall of Ponca City, Oklahoma, is
sentenced to 15 months in prison for conspiring with two others to harass IRS agents.
The other defendants, Kenney Moore and Colleen Moore who, like Gunwall, pled guilty
to one of the counts, have not yet been sentenced.

May 22, Connecticut: A Connecticut judge postpones the attempted kidnapping trial of
"patriot" leader James "Bo" Gritz and his son James R. Gritz until September.

May 23, Oklahoma: Wayne Gunwall and Howard M. Boos are convicted in federal court
on a three-count indictment of conspiring to file multimillion-dollar liens against IRS
agents (see above, below).

May 27, Florida: In Tampa, Florida, Emilio Ippolito, his daughter, and six followers,
members of the "Constitutional Common Law Court," go on trial on charges of
conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Ippolito is the leader of one of the most prominent
common law courts in the nation.

May 29, West Virginia: A "colonel" in the West Virginia Mountaineer Militia pleads
guilty to making a bomb for other militia members who were plotting to bomb an FBI
fingerprint facility. Edward Moore is one of seven defendants in the case; he faces up to
ten years in prison.

May 30, Washington: Gary Kuehnoel, one of the Washington militia/freemen defenders
(see above), is sentenced to 27 months in jail for illegal possession of a machine gun,
and ordered to pay a $6,000 fine. The sentence was part of an agreement in which all
other charges were dropped.

JUNE

June 2, Oklahoma, Colorado: In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted for
his role in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in April 1995. He is
later given the death penalty.

June 4, Florida: A Jacksonville jury acquits Florida "patriot" and ostrich farmer William
Law of 21 counts of defrauding people by placing bogus liens on people involved with
his divorce. The jury believed the argument of Law’s lawyer that Law did not defraud
anyone because no one would believe the liens were real.

June 5, Arizona: Trial begins for remaining Arizona Viper Militia defendants, Charles
Knight. Viper Christopher Floyd still awaits trial.

June 5, Oklahoma: A federal judge sentences two Oklahoma common law activist Dan
Meador to 16 months in prison, three years supervised release and a $2,000 fine for
obstructing justice and illegally communicating with a grand jury. Meador’s case was
linked to the case involving Kenney and Colleen Moore and Wayne Gunwall.

June 12, West Virginia: The second of seven defendants, Jack Phillips, in the
Mountaineer Militia case agrees to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to make
bombs.

June 12, West Virginia: FBI affidavits reveal that the Mountaineer Militia considered
killing Jay Rockefeller and Alan Greenspan, as well as their families, in a "holy war"
against the federal government.

June 16, Washington, Ohio: Cheyne Kehoe, wanted since February for a shootout with
police in Ohio, surrenders in Washington. He will be extradited to Ohio.

June 16, Utah: John Chaney is sentenced in Provo, Utah, to life in prison for aiding in
the rape of his daughter. When he appeared for sentencing, he ordered bailiffs to arrest
the judge for treason, but the bailiffs did not respond. Chaney, a common law court
activist and member of an extreme Mormon sect, was convicted in April on three counts
of aiding and abetting in the rape of his (then 13-year old) daughter at the hands of one
of his followers. He has launched numerous lawsuits against Utah judges for conspiring
against his religious freedom.

June 17, Utah, Ohio: Chevie Kehoe is arrested in Cedar City, Utah, after Cheyne Kehoe
reveals to authorities where he is.

June 23, Washington, Idaho: The second trial for the accused "Spokane Bank Bandits"
begins. Robert Berry, Charles Barbee and Verne Jay Merrell are once again defendants.
The fourth defendant will have a separate trial in September.

June 23, Arizona: Arizona Viper Charles Knight is convicted of conspiracy to make or
possess unregistered destructive devices.

June 24, California: Todd Vanbiber, the Orange County, California, man who blew

himself up while constructing a pipe bomb (see above), pleads guilty to two federal
explosives violations. Vanbiber was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance.

June 26, Colorado: Barry Taylor is convicted in Adams County, Colorado, of using
bogus "freemen" checks to pay off his debts. Taylor is one of 12 indicted Coloradans and
the first to go to trial.

June 27, Utah: Former Montana Freeman standoff participant Gloria Ward is found
guilty of four counts of Social Security fraud. Ward had been claiming Social Security
survivor’s benefits as the mother of the man’s child, despite having sued another man
whom she claimed was the real father. She faces up to twenty years in prison.

June 30, California: In Ventura County, Isabel Oxx is evicted from her home, ending a
long ordeal in which she lost title to her house after using a "freeman" check to pay off
her mortgage. She will go to trial in early July on federal charges of jury tampering in
connection with the case of Elizabeth Broderick (see above).