Massive police force at eviction
BARRY ADAMS, ED TRELEVEN AND DEBORAH ZIFF Wisconsin State Journal
WYOCENA - When Lester and Lilac Sundsmo set out from their town of Wyocena home Wednesday morning, they were on their way to their daughter's property near Spring Green.
But they made it less than a mile, because a law enforcement surveillance team saw an opportunity.
So instead of a feared confrontation at the couple's log home on Highway 16, the Sundsmos - who claimed to be part of a religious organization called Heavenly Mission and who have said in court documents that the laws of the U.S. and the state of Wisconsin don't apply to them - were arrested without incident about a half-mile east of their 40-acres following a traffic stop.
The Sundsmos, who were being held at the Columbia County Jail, were charged Wednesday with filing false liens against county officials, including judges and the former sheriff.
They also owe thousands of dollars in property taxes and in October, the county foreclosed on the Sundsmo's property, at W5750 Highway 16 in the town of Wyocena, according to the Columbia County treasurer's office.
County officials had been working with federal, state and local law enforcement officials on an eviction plan since a January eviction filing, but Wednesday's developments provided an anti-climactic but peaceful end to a three-year investigation.
"Today's incident occurred a little quicker than we anticipated or that we had planned," said Columbia County Chief Deputy Michael Babcock. "The intelligence that was secured by multiple law enforcement agencies indicated that there was likely going to be some type of confrontation if we had to go to the door of the residence."
Still, almost 100 federal, state and county agents swarmed the wooded property dotted on its edges with yellow and orange no trespassing signs.
The signs threatened fines of up to $10,000 and 10 years in prison and specifically mentioned "federal officers of the IRS, HEW, HUD, environmental, health, and other unconstitutional agencies; And to all local members of planning and zoning boards."
It was not known late Wednesday what agents found during searches of the property, which includes the log home, a barn, what appeared to be an abandoned home and about a 75-foot-long tunnel that connected the log home with the barn.
What is known is that Lester Sundsmo, 65, and Lilac Sundsmo, 56, no longer own their property - it is now owned by the county after an October foreclosure. The Sundsmo's possessions will be packed and stored at a neutral site and they have been charged in Columbia County Circuit Court with five counts each of criminal slander of title. Each of the felonies is punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Officials allege in one of the counts that the Sundsmos issued $14.4 million in Uniform Commercial Code financing statements and liens against Jeffrey Clark, who was retained by the Bank of Poynette in a foreclosure action against the Sundsmos.
In their 2003 filing with the Columbia County Register of Deeds office, the Sundsmos indicated that anyone who used their name without consent owed $100,000 for each use "plus triple damages," according to the criminal complaint.
The couple, on that same day, also filed a $300,000 lien against the bank's president, William Curley. Also in 2003, Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey was issued a lien for failing to pay a $2.1 million "judgment" issued by the Sundsmos, while the couple in 2004 said former Columbia County Sheriff Steven Rowe owed $900,000.
And last year, the Sundsmos filed a lien against former Columbia County Circuit Court Judge Richard Rehm for $300,000.
"Lester's been outspoken as far as letting everyone know his philosophy when it comes to government," said Mark Landsverk, a neighbor who owns about 270 acres of land adjacent to the Sundsmos. "He didn't agree with exactly the way the government is run today - more of the constitutional issues."
Landsverk said he didn't think the rural Columbia County community would be surprised by the arrests. The Sundsmos had been living in the log home for at least a dozen years, he said.
Darren Dosemagen, who leases land from Landsverk and farms near the Sundsmos, called them "good neighbors," and said Sundsmo expressed his views on the government freely.
"He would say stuff so far off from what I believed in, I just tried not to pay attention," Dosemagen said.
Lorri Frisch, the couple's daughter, said while the Sundsmos support common-law beliefs, they have no connection to the Posse Comitatus, a loosely organized national group that opposes the U.S. government. Some media reports earlier Wednesday mentioned a potential link.
Babcock, the county's chief deputy, said he did "not have any specific knowledge connecting them to an affiliation similar to a Posse Comitatus."
"I would say they shared similar" views, Babcock said. "They question the legitimacy of the Constitution, of the legislature and government processes."
Online searches Wednesday failed to find listings for Heavenly Mission in the state's corporate records at the Department of Financial Institutions and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's records of tax-exempt organizations.
Agents from the FBI, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, state Department of Justice, state Department of Justice, and emergency response teams from Columbia, Sauk and Dane counties were among those called to the scene.
Frisch said there is nothing at the home that would warrant such a large amount of law enforcement being there, but Babcock said after the Sundsmos were arrested, it was unclear who remained on the property and what would be found. Nobody else was located on the property but Babcock said they are still searching for more people to question.
"That was required because of past intelligence," Babcock said of the large law enforcement presence.
Rio and Wyocena were abuzz Wednesday with talk of the arrests, which closed off a large portion of Highway 16 in between the two communities for much of Wednesday morning and part of the afternoon.
However, most people declined to speak to reporters or refused to give their names. A pastor at Christ Congregational Church in Rio, the Rev. Tom Howie, was asked to resign from the post a week ago because of his alleged involvement with the Sundsmos, said a church member who asked that her name not be used because an attorney had advised church members not to comment on the resignation.
The Sundsmos attended the church at one time.
On Wednesday, Howie confirmed his resignation, which took effect March 4, but declined to comment on any connection with the Sundsmos.
While the criminal charges are focused on the liens, the eviction process was due to unpaid property taxes and a foreclosure on the property.
Columbia County Treasurer Deborah Raimer said the Sundsmos owed $15,200 in delinquent property taxes, for bills from 2002 through 2005, at the time the county foreclosed in October 2006. State law requires about three years of outstanding tax delinquency before counties can move to seize and sell properties.
In January, the county sought and received an eviction notice for the Sundsmos. Their response to the county's action was to send the paperwork back to the county stamped with the words "Refused For Cause, Without Dishonor and, Without Recourse to Me."
The Sundsmos also opposed the foreclosure by claiming the property had been deeded to a church, Heavenly Mission, in February 2002. The purported deed, however, was not filed with the register of deeds until June 2006, according to court documents. As a church, the Sundsmos claimed, the property was exempt from taxes.
A "Peoples Court" grand jury supplied a document in which Heavenly Mission elder Robert Arthur claimed to have contacted an Internal Revenue Service official in Ohio who stated that the church was a "true church" and was exempt from taxes. The document also alleged a conspiracy by county officials to steal the Heavenly Mission with the help of the courts.
In the document, the Peoples Court claims to be superior to any "lesser court."
The couple left Wednesday morning in a battered maroon Buick Regal with Minnesota license plates. After the arrests, officials moved the car to a driveway across the road from the Sundsmos home but the vehicle was accessible to reporters.
A black purse was on the front passenger seat, two insulated camouflage coffee mugs in the front cup holders and on the dash board, a clean white envelope addressed to their son, Leonard John Sundsmo, 31, who is incarcerated at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution in Oshkosh.
In the front yard of the couple's home, a 10-foot by five- foot wooden cross draped with lights was strapped at an angle to a pole and firewood was neatly stacked on an east facing porch.
"This was a high-risk situation for us," Babcock said. "Naturally, the unknown is always a great concern."
Frisch said the action Wednesday was overkill and that authorities should have done more investigating before assuming that this situation "would turn into another Waco," referring to the deadly 1994 raid at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
State Journal reporters Karen Rivedal and Andy Hall and Portage Daily Register reporters Todd Krysiak and Jason Maddux contributed to this story.---
From:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=123622---
I'm wondering how much it cost to get all of those agencies to coordinate the eviction. I would like to compare that number to the amount owed in back-taxes. Just what the heck were they expecting to find at that old couple's home?
