Edward Lewis Brown (born 1942) and his wife, Elaine Alice Brown (born ), residents of the state of New Hampshire, gained national news media attention as tax protesters in early 2007 for refusing to pay the U.S. federal income tax and subsequently refusing to surrender to federal government agents after having been convicted of tax crimes.
After the conviction and sentencing, a long, armed standoff with federal law enforcement authorities at their New Hampshire residence ended with the arrest of Edward and Elaine Brown on October 4, 2007. In July 2009, while serving their sentences for the tax crimes, the Browns were found guilty by a federal district court jury of additional criminal charges arising from their conduct during the standoff.
The Browns have been identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as members of the sovereign citizen movement.
Elaine Brown
Elaine Brown attended dental school at Tufts University in Boston before opening a dental practice in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. Elaine Brown earned most of the couple's income that was involved in the tax dispute through her dental practice.
Edward Brown Edward Brown is retired from the pest control business.
Earlier felony convictions and pardon In 1960, Edward Brown was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery in connection with an attack on a man in Somerville, Massachusetts. Brown was imprisoned at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Concord, Massachusetts, was paroled in January 1965, and was pardoned in July 1976 by then-governor Michael Dukakis, with the recommendation of the Massachusetts Advisory Board of Parole.
Involvement in militia movement According to an October 1994 article in the New Hampshire Sunday News, Edward Brown was the spokesman for an organization called the Constitution Defense Militia and had become involved in the militia movement in late 1993. The newspaper reported that Brown designated various individuals and organizations as being part of a conspiracy to deprive Americans of life and liberty. Among the people and organizations named by Brown were then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, former President George H. W. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, The Council on Foreign Relations, the United Nations, the Trilateral Commission, the American Bar Association, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Brown reportedly had stockpiled 18 months' worth of food, with weapons and ammunition, and believed that there would be a Federal government takeover of "private property, utilities, health facilities and the media." The 1994 article reported that Brown believed the militia was setting up its own "courts… for the purpose of taking back America." The newspaper reported that Brown said he saw no way the conflict would end except in violence. The paper stated: "Brown, who says he is an agnostic, admits it's easy to dismiss him as a nut."
Tax-related indictment, trial and convictions In April 2006, Edward and Elaine Brown were indicted in the United States District Court in New Hampshire for numerous federal tax violations.
Prosecutors in the Browns' case presented evidence that the Browns had not paid income tax since 1996 and had not filed income tax returns since 1998; they were liable for taxes of more than $625,000.
The Browns initially chose to represent themselves, without the help of a court-appointed lawyer. Halfway through the trial Edward Brown decided not to return to the court, while Elaine Brown chose to enlist the help of a court-appointed lawyer to defend her and negotiate any possible plea bargain offered by the federal prosecutor.
The Browns claimed they had not been presented with any law that required them to pay income taxes to the federal government, an argument similar to many tax protester statutory arguments.In this regard, see , , , , , , , and and Tax protester statutory arguments. See also page 80 of the 2006 Instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
On January 18, 2007, Edward Brown was found guilty by a jury in a Federal District Court in Concord, New Hampshire of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States under , one count of conspiracy to structure financial transactions to evade the Treasury reporting requirements in violation of , and , and one count of structuring financial transactions to evade the Treasury reporting requirements and aiding and abetting under and . Elaine Brown was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States under , five counts of tax evasion and aiding and abetting under and , eight counts of willful failure to collect employment taxes under and aiding and abetting under , one count of conspiracy to structure financial transactions to evade the Treasury reporting requirements in violation of , and , and two counts of structuring financial transactions to evade the Treasury reporting requirements and aiding and abetting under and .See Jury Verdict, docket entry 133, Jan. 18, 2007, ‘’United States of America v. Elaine A. Brown and Edward Lewis Brown, Defendants’’; case no. 1:06-cr-00071-SM-ALL, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (Concord); and compare to Indictment, docket entry 1, April 4, 2006, ‘’United States of America v. Elaine A. Brown and Edward Lewis Brown, Defendants’’; case no. 1:06-cr-00071-SM-ALL, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (Concord). The tax evasion convictions of Elaine Brown involved the failure to report income of $1,310,706 over a period of five years.See Indictment, docket entry 1, April 4, 2006, ‘’United States of America v. Elaine A. Brown and Edward Lewis Brown, Defendants’’; case no. 1:06-cr-00071-SM-ALL, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (Concord). Each was sentenced to over five years in prison.
Before granting Elaine Brown's release on bail, the judge of the Browns' trial ordered her not to return to the Browns' home before sentencing. As a condition of her bail agreement with the state, she was ordered to live at her son's home in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she had been living prior to the trial. A tracking device was attached to her, and she was given permission to leave her son's home only if he was accompanying her; she later violated the terms of her release by destroying this device and rejoining her husband.
On April 14, 2007, the Concord Monitor reported that Edward and Elaine Brown "recently ordered the clerk of the court to close their case, citing themselves as 'the court' and 'judge'." The Browns reportedly signed their filings with the court using new names: "Edward, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel," and "Elaine, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel." The court rejected the filings, ruling them frivolous.
Browns' residence
Edward Brown said that he had a stock of food and supplies and that his home could run on wind and solar generators even if cut off from the main grid. He also stated publicly that he did not intend to go to jail and "vowed to resist arrest violently and die rather than go to prison."
During the standoff, a number of supporters were camped outside his home and were encouraged to record any attempt to take Brown from his house. This policy of opening the door to supporters led to the successful arrest of the couple by United States Deputy Marshals who disguised themselves as supporters.
The 100 acre property at 401 Center of Town Road, Plainfield, New Hampshire was scheduled to be auctioned off in Concord, New Hampshire, on August 15, 2014, by U.S. Marshals, although no one bid at the auction. The Browns implied in interviews that the woods around the house had explosive "booby-traps." Federal officials therefore would not let interested bidders tour the property. In October 2015, however, would-be buyers were allowed to visit the property with an Internal Revenue Service official, and the property sold for $205,000 at auction on October 22, 2015.
Beliefs about religion, Zionism, Judaism, Freemasonry and taxes The Concord Monitor wrote: "The Browns changed their names in late March after converting to a non-denominational form of Christianity they learned from a man named Sonny. According to friends of the Browns, Sonny, who wears a long beard, all-white attire and sandals, flew from Hawaii to New Hampshire to visit the Browns and shared his religious and legal teachings over several days."Id. Elaine Brown was quoted as saying: "The only law book we now recognize is the Bible. The only way we're coming out of our home is either as free man and free woman or in body bags."
The Browns alleged that they were not United States citizens, that they were non-residents of the United States for tax purposes, that the New Hampshire business tax laws were incorrect, null and void, and that labor could not be taxed.Indictment, docket entry 1, April 4, 2006, United States of America v. Elaine A. Brown and Edward Lewis Brown, Defendants; case no. 1:06-cr-00071-SM-ALL, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (Concord). According to a New Hampshire newspaper, the Browns had not paid some state taxes, and "face a state tax lien for business profit taxes" of $343,000. The paper reported that with penalties and accumulated interest, the combined federal and state tax amount owed by Edward and Elaine Brown was over three million dollars.
In mid-July 2007, Edward Brown also announced that he would stop paying school and town property taxes to the town of Plainfield, New Hampshire. A local newspaper quoted Brown as saying: "They don't provide me any services, I'm not going to contribute to them anymore."
The Concord Monitor reported that property tax bills were mailed to residents of Plainfield on June 1, 2007, with return envelopes. The Monitor stated that when an employee of the town of Plainfield opened the return envelope from the Browns, no check for the Browns' property taxes was included. Instead, the Browns included a note with the following statement:
Nay! Nay! The land… at 401 Center of Town Road, Plainfield, New Hampshire [the Browns' residence], and all that is in and upon it, including the Lords bodies, are in the kingdom of heaven, belonging to the Lord, have been claimed by him, and thus can be claimed by no man, nor can any man have beneficial interest in it… Stand down and away from the Lords land and the bodies of the Lord. So it is written. So it is done.
Edward Brown was also quoted as having made comments about law enforcement officials and the judge in his case:
I wouldn't want to be this U.S. attorney. I wouldn't want to be this judge or these other people. This James John or anybody else that decides to come down here. Their names are already out there… They are just as vulnerable as I am. And if they're so foolish and stupid to think that they're not, hey, doom on them.
Edward Brown was reported to have stated in a radio interview in March 2007, in comments about federal authorities who were unwilling to see Brown's righteousness:
Once you've used the lawful word, you've done it the absolute proper way, and they still come at you, they are now attacking the Creator himself or itself,… You kill them. That is exactly what the Ten Commandments tell you to do.
In early June 2007 Brown claimed that the law enforcement officials surrounding his properties were part of a "Zionist, Illuminati, Freemason movement," and that the federal government had no jurisdiction in New Hampshire. Referring to the warrants and court orders against him, Brown said "This is just paper… This is fiction. The entire American government is fiction. We created it, didn't we?" The New Hampshire Union Leader also reported that "the Browns believe the IRS and the federal income tax are part of a deliberate plot perpetrated by Freemasons to control the American people and eventually the world."