Eight Colorado residents who were part of what they dubbed “The People’s Grand Jury” have been indicted on allegations they threatened dozens of elected officials and judges across the state — including Boulder County’s sheriff, district attorney and county commissioners.

Members of the group are accused of threatening officials with arrest on treason charges, filing false liens against them and distributing flyers near some of the officials’ homes when court cases involving the defendants did not go their way, according to a 40-page state grand-jury indictment released Friday.

Brian Baylog, Janis Blease, Steven Byfield, David Coffelt, Bruce Doucette, Laurence Goodman, Stephen Nalty and Harlan Smith were indicted on counts including violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, attempting to influence a public servant, extortion, retaliation against a judge, criminal impersonation, failure to pay taxes and offering a false instrument for recording.

According to the indictment — which was returned March 30, but not released by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office until Friday — the eight defendants are accused of being “part of a long-term scheme and endeavor to initially attempt to influence various Colorado-based public servants… who in their legal capacities had responsibilities related to a legal matter which involved a member of this enterprise.”

The indictment said that when cases involving one of the defendants did not go his or her way, other members would “engage in a methodical series of actions and statements specifically targeting the… public servants who had a designated role of some form” in that person’s case.

The officials contacted by the defendants and named as victims in the case are from several jurisdictions across Colorado, including Boulder, Denver, Jefferson, Pueblo and Gilpin counties.

The Boulder County officials who were named as victims include Sheriff Joe Pelle, District Attorney Stan Garnett, Judge Karolyn Moore and all three county commissioners.

‘The People’s Grand Jury’

According to the indictment, the threats to Boulder County officials started when a woman named Charlene Von Schlesien was arrested in September 2015 on suspicion of violating a protection order.

Shortly after her arrest, Boulder-area officials associated with the case began receiving documents from “The People’s Grand Jury” demanding that Von Schlesien be released.

The documents, signed by Nalty, calling himself the “People’s Grand Jury Administrator,” and Bruce Doucette, as the “Superior Court Judge,” instructed the officials to resign, and that failing to do so was “an act of insubordination, fraud, insurrection and sedition, and will be treated accordingly.”

When the officials failed to meet the demands, the group said Baylog, who was deemed “Continental united(sic) State Marshal,” would arrest them.

When the officials still did not respond, the group began issuing liens, saying the officials were debtors to the “Indestructible Trust for the People in Colorado.” In one case, false liens actually were filed with Boulder County, which had detrimental effects on one Boulder County commissioner’s credit.

According the indictment, recordings made by an “embedded individual” indicated the purpose of the liens was to cause the officials economic harm and damage their reputations, with Nalty at one point saying, “Their credit will go to hell in a handbasket.”

At one point, the defendants also distributed flyers near the homes of Garnett and Moore.

“People in my position have lots of interactions with the public, and some of them involve threats or other things that can be concerning to either myself or my family,” Garnett said. “We have a protocol for referring all those to law enforcement. This was a case where the attorney general concluded that additional investigation was appropriate, and they conducted a lengthy investigation. We are pleased they took it as seriously as they did.”

Added Pelle: “This is a risk that sometimes we’re faced with when we take a public office. We’re thankful to the Attorney General’s Office for looking into it.”

Von Schlesien ultimately was convicted and sentenced to a year in jail.

Case to be tried in Denver

The indictment describes similar scenarios in other jurisdictions.

Some of the other reported victims include former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostler and Gilpin County Sheriff Bruce Hartman, along with numerous prosecutors, public defenders, judges and even a coroner.

In one case, a Jefferson County judge was told she owed the group $17 billion, while another document ordered the Gilpin County coroner to arrest the Gilpin County attorney. Another official was threatened with arrest on suspicion of “inland piracy.”

The group appears to follow the doctrine of the sovereign citizen’s movement. That movement holds that people are only answerable to common law and that the U.S government is illegitimate.

The FBI has said that the more extreme sovereign citizens are “domestic terrorists” and labeled them a “growing threat.”

Arrest warrants were issued for all eight defendants, with bond amounts ranging from $350,000 to $100,000.

Baylog is facing a total of 24 charges and was issued a $350,000 bond, Blease is facing 32 charges and was issued a $100,000 bond, Byfield is facing 26 charges and was issued a $250,000 bond, Coffelt is facing 18 charges and was issued a $150,000 bond, Doucette is facing 34 charges and was issued a $250,000 bond, Goodman is facing 25 charges and was issued a $200,000 bond, Nalty is facing 36 charges and was issued a $250,000 bond, and Smith is facing 25 charges and was issued a $100,000 bond.

The racketeering charges — which all eight defendants were indicted on — are Class 2 felonies that could carry a prison sentence of eight to 24 years.

The case will be tried in Denver, according to the indictment.

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars