Sovereign citizens are a diverse group of individuals whose activities and motives vary, but whose core tenets are the typically the same. They view United States citizenship, established government, authority and institutions as illegitimate and consider themselves immune from and therefore above the law.

A number of sovereign citizens engage in fraudulent activity, using paper terrorism to achieve their agendas and commit crimes under the mistaken hope or belief that laws do not apply to them. Some plan or take part in protests against government agencies and institutions, and others have resorted to violence — including acts of domestic terrorism — when they felt their freedoms were infringed upon.

Colorado

April LaJune

April LaJune bills herself as a “conservative political journalist.” In reality she makes YouTube videos and peddles sovereign citizenship documents which purport to give people access to their strawman accounts. Also known as treasury direct accounts, these are non-existent corporate trust accounts that sovereigns believe are secretly created by the government when their birth certificates were issued.

LaJune’s business, which she started in November 2017, is called “TDA (Treasury Direct Accounts) Account Information,” and is based in Ignacio, Colorado. Upon realizing their employer was a scam artist, some of her employees spoke with the Durango Herald, telling them LaJune was making between $20,000 and $30,000 a month.

One of the items LaJune offers for sale is fellow sovereign Anna von Reitz’s “Quick Start Guide to TDA.” Von Reitz claims does not know LaJune, but says “I have made the information available for free…for anyone to use, but if you want someone to sit beside you and make sure all the details are done right, as many people do, April LaJune is offering that service.

The website for LaJune's business bears the disclaimer:

Some people have been arrested for trying to access their funds and successfully transferring money from those accounts to various locations. Therefore BE WARNED! Should you attempt to use any of the information within this site, you have a chance at being arrested also. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Rocky Hutson

Colorado lawyers attempted to get charges dropped against their client Rocky Hutson by claiming that anti-government sovereign citizenship is a religious belief, protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

This was similar to the claim made by sovereign Rodney Tyms-Bey of Indianapolis in 2015, who argued in front of the court that his refusal to pay taxes was based on religious beliefs. Neither Tyms-Bey nor Hutson was successful in making their case.

The judge in Hutson’s case ruled that he could not use RFRA as a defense. Hutson, who was both a “chief justice” for the Republic of the united States of America (sic) and a “U.S. marshal” for the Continental united States of America (sic) was accused of attempting to defraud the Department of Agriculture and other financial institutions using bogus financial documents, including claim forms. His plan was to amass more than $20 million which he would spend on Harley Davidson motorcycles and a shopping center.

On May 13, 2018, Hutson was found guilty on three counts of bank fraud, five counts of filing false claims and six counts of creating fictitious financial statements.

Hutson was one of four sovereigns indicted for this scheme. Another, Gunther Glaub, was convicted on five counts of making false statements and received five months’ probation, 100 hours of community service and fined $500 on May 22, 2018.

New Jersey

Karl Schuefler

After Karl Schuefler — otherwise known both as “Iesus, the Christ irrevocable trust” and “Without Prejudice” — was accused of theft, it is alleged that he filed fraudulent liens against the individuals who made the accusations against him in retaliation

The use of property liens to settle grudges against public officials and others is a common tactic used by sovereign citizens and a form of paper terrorism.

Like many sovereigns before him, Schuefler has faced consequences for his actions. He was arrested on April 27, 2018 by members of the Ocean City, New Jersey, prosecutor’s office and charged with falsifying of government records in the third degree.