It was announced in Washington state yesterday, that four members of the Sovereign Citizens movement were convicted on charges of filing fraudulent claims, false tax returns, mail fraud and obstruction of justice.

After a five hour deliberation, the jury in the case against Raymond Leo Jarlik Bell and Ute Christine Jarlik Bell, found them guilty of filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims. Raymond Bell was also convicted of 15 counts of assisting in filing false tax returns, three counts of mail fraud, and a count of obstruction of justice.

Also convicted last week, was two other co-conspirators, Kenneth Wayne Leaming and David Carroll Stephenson. Leaming was convicted of three counts of filing false leins against the government and one count of harboring a federal fugitivve. Stephenson was convicted of a single count of filing false leins against the government.

It was the investigation of Bell that resulted in the implication of Leaming and Stephenson. When conducting an evidence search of the Bell home, investigators found materials that implicated Leaming and Stephenson in a separate criminal case.

When conducting a search of the Leaming residdence, investigators found numerous weapons, which Leaming could not legally possess as a convicted felon. He gained that felon status for operating an aircraft without an operator’s license. It was at that time that investigators found that Leaming was harboring two federal fugitives wanted in Arkansas. They also found evidence of a conspiracy implicating Stephenson, who was in an Arizona prison at the time. The evidence pointed to a conspiracy to file false leins on the warden of the Arizoona prison and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The investigation of Bell revolved around a tax scheme referred to as 1099-OID fraud. Bell assisted other people to file false returns using the 1099OID. He also used this scheme for himself to obtain over $30,000 in refunds in 2006. He assisted six people using this method. One of these six was a woman who received over $590,000.

U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkin said of the case, “The right to criticize our government is one of the most cherished rights. But this liberty does not include the right to commit crimes. These defendants repeatedly broke the law with frauds aimed at taxpayers and public servants. We are grateful the jury held them accountable for their actions.”

The judge in the case, Judge Ronald Leighton, has scheduled sentencing for the Bells for June 14th, 2013.