Steven Martinez

Lake Country

U.S. marshals on July 24 arrested Delafield resident James Stuart Jr. for failure to appear at his scheduled probation revocation hearing in federal court, an agency spokesman confirmed.

Stuart, 72, who considers himself a "sovereign citizen" not bound by U.S. tax law, was indicted and convicted in 2012 of tax evasion in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison, $6,000 in fines and three years of probation.

He was arrested, with the assistance of the Delafield Police Department, at his home in the 2400 block of Hirschman Lane.

Federal court records indicate that a magistrate judge issued an order July 25 committing Stuart to the marshals' custody pending further proceedings in his case.

The U.S. Probation Office has recommended revocation of Stuart's probation, records show, but it's unclear why. Revocation reports from the office have been sealed, so they are not publicly available.

According to the magistrate judge's order, Stuart has been "AWOL" from and has not cooperated with his supervision.

Stuart, the former president of New Age Chemical in Delafield, paid $631 in taxes for 2005 and did not file any tax returns for 2006 and 2007, when he earned more than $900,000. He owed more than $220,000 in federal taxes for those years, records show, but refused to pay them.

Stuart sent numerous letters to the IRS and other government officials making a variety of claims, including that his earnings were not taxable wages, he did not have a Social Security number, the IRS did not have jurisdiction, and he was not a U.S. citizen.

He's scheduled to appear for a preliminary revocation hearing Aug. 3.