Freemen leaders convicted

[July 15, 1998]

A federal jury in Montana, USA found four leaders of the Montana Freemen political group were guilty of conspiracy against the US banking system. However, the jury was deadlocked on conspiracy charges against eight other defendants and on other charges in the indictment. Leaders LeRoy Schweitzer, Daniel Petersen, Dale Jacobi and Russell Landers, who were convicted on other charges relating to robbery last week, were convicted this week of conspiring to defraud four banks, which prosecuters held was an attempt to attack the American bank system. According to the Star Tribune [July 9, 1998], "The Freemen issued 3,432 bogus checks totaling $15.5 billion to followers nationwide." On July 2, the jury found Freemen Rodney Skurdal and Richard Clark guilty of threatening to kidnap and murder a federal judge.

The charges date back to the highly publicized standoff between the Freemen and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1996. The 81-day standoff ended peacefully when Freemen left the Justus ranch June 13, 1996 due to lack of electricity and health problems. The Freemen claimed the ranch was not subject to United States jurisdiction, printed their own money orders, and hold white separatist views.