澳彩开奖

A federal jury on Friday convicted , one of the nation鈥檚 most prominent antigovernment 鈥渟overeign citizens,鈥� on 10 tax fraud charges stemming from seminars he held between 2007 and 2009 that purported to teach people how to tap into 鈥渟ecret鈥� government accounts to pay their tax bills.

Turner, 57, of Ozark, Ala., gave a half-hearted wave as U.S. Marshals took him into custody after the guilty verdict was read today in Montgomery, Ala. He faces as many as 168 years in prison when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court this summer.

Turner was convicted of using a fictitious financial instrument, purportedly valued at $300 million, to pay his own taxes and of assisting others who wanted to get out of paying their taxes with similar 鈥渂onds鈥� that he claimed would draw on government accounts.

Federal prosecutors spent three days making the case that Turner was nothing more than a con man who used the bizarre beliefs of sovereign citizens to concoct schemes to prey on the financially distraught. He charged hundreds of dollars for 聽seminars that taught them how to draft bogus financial instruments.

鈥淗e wants you to believe that he鈥檚 been cheated,鈥� federal prosecutor Justin Gelfand said in closing arguments. 鈥淸But] Mr. Turner was the one who was cheating.鈥�

Like most , Turner considers the United States an illegitimate corporation posing as a government. He represented himself in the case, all the while insisting the government was trying to keep him from revealing what he had discovered.

鈥淚 discovered things that big Washington government doesn鈥檛 want you to know,鈥� Turner said in his own opening statement. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to shut me up.鈥�

But he never outlined what those things were, and the jury noticed.

After about an hour of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on every count, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; six counts related to fake financial instruments; obstructing the Internal Revenue Service; and failing to file a tax return in 2009. Most of the charges stem from Turner鈥檚 early days as a sovereign citizen, when he started to adopt the movement鈥檚 ideology. Sovereigns generally believe they don鈥檛 have to pay taxes, register their vehicles or obey most laws.

The charges had nothing to do with Turner鈥檚 role as president of the , one of the largest and most organized sovereign groups in the country. His supporters, many of whom were in the courtroom as the verdict was read, insisted Turner was a 鈥減olitical prisoner鈥� being held unlawfully. RuSA claims to have formed a shadow government that will rule America, with Turner as president, when the federal government collapses.

Vivian Gwin, a RuSA 鈥渟enator鈥� from South Carolina who had come to watch the trial, shook her head as Turner was led from the courtroom. 鈥淭his is not about his bonds being unlawful.鈥� she said. Then, somewhat defiantly, she added, 鈥淭his is about him being the president of the Republic.鈥�