Feb 21, 2007 12:03 pm US/Eastern
New Twist In N.H. Tax Evader Standoff
PLAINFIELD, N.H. (WBZ) ―
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Ed Brown talked to WBZ inside his Plainfield home last month.
WBZ
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Brown's home in Plainfield, New Hampshire.
WBZ
A new twist in the story of a New Hampshire couple who refuses to pay taxes, landing the husband barricaded inside their fortress-like home.
Now Elaine Brown has violated a court order, rejoining her husband in the self-imposed lockdown.
The Plainfield couple has not paid federal income taxes since 1996 because they don't think the law requires them to pay. They argue there is no law requiring individual income taxes. The government says they owe more than $600,000.
Last month, the couple was found guilty of tax evasion. Elaine Brown - who appeared in court - was ordered not to return to her home. She has been staying with family in Worcester, monitored by an ankle bracelet.
Her husband Ed, meanwhile, never appeared in court. Instead, he stayed barricaded inside his home, saying he is prepared for an armed standoff with the government if it comes to that.
The Browns' large home, surrounded by acres of woods, sits atop a large hill. A circular tower affords a 360-degree view, and walls in the home's recent addition are reinforced with 10-inch-wide concrete.
Last month, friends guarded the door as Ed Brown talked to WBZ from the top of his garage stairs.
"Waco started my interest to begin to investigate what was going on in this country, in this government," Brown said. "Somebody in America has to start standing up against this oppression from the government. Their people want to come down here and take my country? They're going to do it the hard way. I advise them to go away."
Watch January's ReportU.S. Marshal Stephen Monier confirmed Wednesday that Elaine Brown reunited with her husband Tuesday evening, but said he was sticking to his plan of not confronting the Browns.
"It's our position that this is the wrong course of action. We're going to strongly encourage both Dr. Brown and her husband ... to come in and deal with the legal process in the appropriate way," he said.
He added: "It does not change my strategy. We're not going to there and create an armed standoff with Mr. Brown. We're going to continue to talk to them."
Monier said the electronic anklet, issued by the U.S. Probation Office, triggers an alarm but does not provide real-time GPS tracking of inmates.
A warrant could be issued for Elaine Brown, but that has not happened yet, Monier said. U.S. Marshals have not acted on an existing warrant for Ed Brown.
The Browns were convicted of engaging in an elaborate scheme to hide about $1.9 million in income, earned mostly by Elaine Brown between 1996 and 2003. They also were convicted of not paying federal income taxes for employees at her dental practice and other frauds. A jury recommended the couple surrender more than $215,000 in property, including their home or Lebanon dental office.
Over the past few decades, Brown has claimed membership in several anti-government and militia groups including the Constitution Rangers of the Continental Congress of 1777, the Constitution Defense Militia and the UnAmerican Activities Investigations Commission, which he founded.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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