22 March 2006
Today I was sentenced in Federal District Court to five years in prison, plus three years’ probation, plus half-way house and a $50,000 fine. At this point I do not know what prison I am to report to, but I do know the date is May 4th.
The total in fines and assessments from government, without explanation as to how and why they were assessed, now totals in the neighborhood of $34 million dollars! The IRS has already seized my bank accounts, securities, and other assets, so the entire process is bizarre-squared. Notwithstanding these absurdities, I am convinced that somehow in the eternal scheme of things life will work out. (This is all so completely ridiculous that it is hard to take it seriously.)
At the moment I need a couple of days to sort my feelings and decide how to best proceed. In theory I can make an appeal to the 9th circuit, but have lost my enthusiasm for the fight, thus I will probably let things lie and simply go to prison quietly. (A little rest may change my outlook in these regards.)
Whereas it will not benefit me, and possibly be detrimental to my cause, I intend to write the judge about the incredible deceit on the part of the Justice department. The twisted information they put into the public record through subterfuge at a sentencing hearing was astounding. At first I was simply stunned that they could be so ignorant, now I realize the entire presentation was a purposeful series of carefully crafted lies designed to achieve their objectives.
Perhaps by shedding light on the depth of the government’s treachery, someone else may eventually benefit. All of us want to believe our government would endeavor to hold the moral high ground and conduct themselves accordingly. Unfortunately that is not what has taken place, and my situation may not be an exception to the rule. The matter that presses in upon me is what responsibility I have to shed light on their dishonesty. This was my self-proclaimed mission when I first began writing about abuse of governmental power. Look where it got me. I suppose one could legitimately argue my situation is something akin to self-fulfilling prophesy, but the bottom line is that Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
For the record, I have been prevented from presenting any explanation or defense for my actions in regards to the criminal charges levied against me. Upon my return home today AFTER sentencing, I received the Pre-Sentence Report (via email), that had been prepared by government for which I was supposed to have 35 days to reply, BEFORE sentencing. This strategy is similar to the IRS assessing me over $20 million in charges and mailing the notice to another country whilst I was being held in the States due to IRS allegations. Because I did not have their assessment and never saw it I could not respond within the pre-set time limit required by their assessment, therefore the fines could not be challenged in court without paying millions up front. The IRS seized all my accounts to make sure there was no way for me to put up the required cash to appeal.
Terry