Текст книги "ГУЛаг Палестины"

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equipment, the wonders of American technology in the fields of tapping, surveillance and code-breaking. In the first two years of its operations, Eldorado

captured $60 million and arrested 120 launderers. Compared to the scope of overall laundering, that is peanuts. "That is not the point," say the Eldorado

agents. "Obviously, it is impossible, with the existing legal restrictions, to put an end to the phenomenon. Our warfare is psychological."

Incidentally, Eldorado is not the only agency combating money-laundering. The DEA, the American Drug Enforcement Agency, and the FBI, also conduct

lively activity in that field. Not always is this activity coordinated.

In recent months the Eldorado agents discovered a new center of operations. It is called The Cocaine Triangle. Its sides are Colombian drug barons,

Israeli-Jewisli money launderers and Jewish-Russian mafiosi. The Colombians funnel the money, the Israelis launder it, the Russian mafiosi (who have recently

overrun New York in droves) provide the security and the muscle. A New York journalist recently told Maariv: "The Israeli Jews are ataining notoriety in the

money– laundering market. You need only look at the list of arrests and the indictments of the past 3-4 years, in order to grasp the enormous scope of Israeli

involvement in this field."

One reason for the growing power of the Jews in the business of laundering drug money is the Law of Return with its easy possibility of escape to Israel. In

May 1993, five members of the Jewish international laundering ring which had worked with the Kali cartel were arrested. The ring was exposed following an

FBI "sting" operation, as part of which it established a dummy corporation called Prism, which served the gang for laundering money.

In the course of less than one year $22.5 million were laundered through the company. The head of the ring was an Israeli named Zion Ya'akov Evenheim,

known as "Zero". Evenheim, who had a dual Israeli and Colombian citizenship, stayed in Kali, from where he coordinated the activity and supervised the

transfers of money. Most of the ring's members were arrested in May 1993. Evenheim was arrested by Interpol in Switzerland and extradited to the US. He

is cooperating with the FBI.

Additional Israeli detainees: Raymond Shoshana, 38, Daniella Levi, 30, Binyamin Hazon, Meir Ochayon, 33, Alex Ajami, 34. Many other suspects, to whom

we will later return, escaped to Israel, and there are difficulties in extraditing them to the US.

In the course of the investigation, FBI agents recorded hundreds of hours of conversations in Hebrew among the Israeli suspects. For the purpose of

translating the material, they employed, among others, Neil Elefant, a Jewish resident of New Jersey who had lived in Israel for some time and who spoke

fluent Hebrew.

Elefant translated and translated, until one day in May 1992 he was amazed to discover among the speakers a friend, Jack Zbeida, a Jewish antiques dealer

from Brooklyn, Elefant was in a difficult dilemma. He approached his rabbi, Elazar Teitz, who told him that his religious duty was to warn Zbeida. Elefant then

secretly met Zbeida and told him that he was targeted by the FBI. Alex Ajami, an Israeli Jew who was one of the heads of the gang, was also present.

Zbeida and Ajami hurried to the FBI offering to cooperate, turning in Elefant, who was arrested and charged with interfering with legal procedures.

He argued that one of the reasons for his decision to warn Zbeida was the zealousness, almost approaching anti-Semitism, which he found among the FBI

agents trying to involve the State of Israel in drug affairs. Judge Kevin Duffy sentenced Elefant to I8 months' imprisonment. In the meantime the FBI was

forced to arrest hurriedly all those involved in the affair.

In spite of their hurry, many Israeli Jews involved fled to Israel. Some few of the tens of Israeli and American Jews who fled to Israel on this occasion are:

Raymond Shosliana, Adi Tal, David Va'anunu, his nephew Yisliai Vanunu, Ya'akov Cohen. Most of them came out of the affair with a lot of money which

they also took to Israel.

The story of Adi Tal is worthy of elaboration. He is an impressive youth, handsome, with a good record in the army, a son of a fine Israeli family, formerly a

security guard at El Al. All that did not hinder Tal from becoming involved in laundering drug money in 1988. In March 1988 the American authorities

arrested I I members of the laundering ring, including Tal and his good friend Nir Goldstein, also an Israeli.

The investigators at the time said that Tal and his friends had operated cautiously, used aliases and codes and lived in constant fear. They would receive large

amounts of money from Colombian couriers, divide the money into sums of $10,000 (any amount over 10,000 dollars that is deposited in an American bank

requires a report), deposit the sums in banks and convert them into travelers' checks which they sent, by means of international couriers, to a dummy

corporation in Panama. The most popular code which Tal's gang used was taken from the diamond industry. When information was transmitted about the

transfer of a diamond of 30.4 carats, it meant the sum of $30,400. Tal worked for Jose Satro, the money launderer of the Kali cartel. The Colombians

constantly pressured him to increase the scope of the laundering.

Tal was afraid. "He lived in constant fear, his bags were always packed and he was prepared to flee at any minute to Israel," one investigator said.

An important member of Tal's laundering ring was Rabbi Shalom Leviatan, a Lubavitch Hassad, head of their branch in Seattle. It is assumed that all the

considerable political power of these Hassids and of their rebbe (then alive) was exerted in favor of that laundering ring.

"My intentions were good," Leviatan said after he was captured. "A person learns from experience," he added. According to him, he did not know that he

was laundering drug money and he was certain that he helped Iranian Jews trying to smuggle their money out of Iran. Leviatan got out cheaply and was

sentenced to 30 days' community service. Tal, who confessed to laundering $10 million, was sentenced to 52 months' imprisonment. He served his sentence

at Danbury jail in Connecticut but he did not learn his lesson. When he was released, he joined a gang which was captured in the FBI's "sting" operation. This

time he managed to flee to Israel where he apparently remains to this day.

The gold and diamond industry has recently become the favorite of the drug barons, due to the numerous possibilities for laundering which it contains. One of

the popular methods is laundering by means of trading in gold. This is how it works. The drug money is converted into gold, which is smuggled to Colombia,

from where it is exported to Milano and used to make jewelry which then legitimately returns to 47th Street. "The funniest thing in this business," say the

investigators, "is that the jewelry comes here under favored import conditions because the gold seemingly originates from Colombia and that state possesses

favored terms of trade with tile US." There are also other methods. Drug money is deposited in the accounts of diamond merchants as though it were their

profits and is later transferred to Colonibia.

Sophisticated diamond deals are made between various parties with the aiin of "releasing" large amounts of money on the side. Sums of less than $10,000 are

deposited in various bank accounts, converted into travelers' checks and then transported to their final destination.

But in spite of the ingenuity, undoubtedly one of the most popular and

successful ways to launder money is through Jewish religious institutions, such as yeshivas and synagogues. Since the majority of the 47th Street gold and

diamond merchants are religious Jews the process is made easier. The Jewish religious institutions badly need funds. The Colombian drug traders can be

generous. They transfer their drug money as donations, which go to the Jewish religious institutions one way and come out by the other way back to the

donors. On the way, the synagogue or yeshiva obtains a respectable percentage for its pious uses. Everyone is happy, the drug barons who launder their

money quickly and efficiently and the synagogue or yeshiva which makes easy money.

The first laundering operation in which a Jewish institute in New York was involved was exposed in 1984. A ring which laundered about $23 million while

making a profit of $2 million operated at the oldest yeshiva in the city, Tifereth Yerushalayim, located in Manhattan. The laundering was performed for the

Kali cartel. The contact man was David Va'anunu, mentioned in the context of the Prism affair, who worked with the cartel's major launderer, Jose Satro.

The yeshiva's representative was a very pious Hassid, Mendel Goldenberger, who daily received cash from Va'anunu and deposited the money in the

yeshiva's accounts.

Goldenberger, who claimed not to have known the source of the money, was convicted of forging bank documents and given five years' suspended

imprisonment. Va'anunu was convicted, sentenced to eight years' imprisonment but released much earlier after he became an informer for the DEA. Later, as

was stated, he ran into trouble again and fled the US. Nine persons were convicted in that affair, including Rabbi Israel Eidelman, Vice President of the

yeshiva and some of its dignitaries. Tiferet Yer-ushalayim faced financial difficulties at that time. It leaders attempted to maintain the students by paying them

from the laundered drug profits.

The phenomenon, incidentally, is very common among New York Jews. Many Jewish congregations are dying because their members are leaving the city or

their former neighborhoods. Thus, the congregations are losing their sources of income and facing large debts. In that situation the road is short for the

synagogue or yeshiva to launder drug money as a pious duty, since it means easy money and lots of it. "Laundering money is extremely beneficial to the

yeshivas and other Jewish religious institutions," said a source close to the investigation. "They are in a difficult situation and therefore they turn a blind eye to

the drug problem. They don't ask what the source of the money is as long as it keeps coming in."

The attitude of the pious Jewish community, according to the same source, is: "Drugs are sold anyway. As long as it does not harm our own community and

only does good for it, it doesn't matter if we benefit from drug trade." The role of the Israelis is, in many cases, to make the connection between the religious

Jewish communities of New York and the Colombians.

The Colombians are more satisfied with this method of laundering than with any other because, for political reasons, it is a relatively secure way of which it

could be initially assumed that it was not going to be forcibly investigated by the US authorities. Only in July 1990 the situation began to change.

The Federal authorities renewed an investigation of some Williamsburg Hassids, owners of jewelry shops on 47th Street, who were suspected of laundering

drug money. The investigation focused on the brothers Naftali, Naiklosh and Yitzhak Slilesinger, and on Ya'akov Shlesinger (Naftali's son) and Milon

Jakloby, his nephew. The investigators found evidence of close connections between the Slilesingers and the Andonian brothers, members of a Colombian

family accused of laundering, almost one billion dollars. The Shlesingers were suspected of laundering money by means of a subsidiary called Bali, through

checks drawn from the account of "Camp Yereim" ["Camp of the Pious]" a Hassidic summer camp in the Catskills.

Camp Yereim denies any connection with these checks. On April 7 of this year, Rabbi Abraham Lau, a prominent Hassid from "Magen Abraham" synagogue

in Los Angeles was convicted of conspiring to launder drug money. Lau is married to the niece of the Satmar Rebbe, Moshe Teitlebaumi, who wields

enormous political influence in New York State.

Unfortunately, Lau told an undercover FBI agent about a "sacred network" of Satmar Hassids in which other Orthodox Jews had also participated. The

"sacred network", whose membership was strictly limited to pious Jews, operated in the 47th Street area in New York and was capable of laundering up to

$5 million weekly, thanks to its widespread contacts with Jewish charitable institutions.

Unfortunately, law enforcement agents in New York do not believe that the "sacred network" and the many other Jewish laundering rings have any sanctity.

In the past year the Federal activity concerning Israelis and Jews on 47th Street has greatly increased. The investigators now employ the services of many

Hebrew translators since the rings, even if composed of native American Jews, employ only "the sacred language" for their operations.

Aharon Sharir is, undoubtedly, the major Israeli launderer. He was born in Iraq about 45 years ago, immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of one

year, graduated from an Israeli high school, served with distinction in the army and became an expert in fixing delicate mechanical instruments used to mend

gold jewelry. In 1979, Sharir came to New York on a tourist visa with $6,000 in his pocket. He went into the gold business, established a small plant for

manufacturing gold jewelry and did well. Then, through another Israeli diamond trader, he discovered the laundering business. Sharir reached a laundering

activity of about $160,000 per day, six days per week (laundering is not done on the Sabbath), but in 1985 his wings were clipped when he was accused of

having swindled a New York bank to the tune of $3 million. He quickly returned the money and was sentenced to a fine and a suspended prison sentence.

In 1988 Sharir's laundering activities reached amazing heights. His gold shop on 47tll Street became one of the greatest laundering centers in the entire US.

"Three times a week," Sharir told the court at one of the many trials in which he is now testifying, "we received the cash. It used to arrive in canvas sacks, in

cardboard boxes or in suitcases. Sometimes there were a million dollars in one shipment."

Roy Lopez, representing the Colombian cartels, would arrive from Miami equipped with a document sent from Colombia which contained detailed coded

instructions about where to send the money. "Even with automatic money-counting machines it was difficult to count the money," Sharir testified. "It arrived in

bills of 5, 10 and 20 dollars. The bills, most of which had been used to sniff cocaine, had a strong odor of coke. A real stink. My employees could not stand

it. Every 2-3 hours they had to take a break, go out for some fresh air, so as not to get ill."

Sharir's role was to see to it that the money would be transported out of the US and arrive in the bank accounts of the Colombian cartels in Panama and in

Colombia. For that purpose he deposited money into his bank accounts, as though it was his profits from the shop, purchased assets for the use of the drug

cartels, bought and sold gold at inflated prices from merchants who were part of the conspiracy and concealed money through various manipulations.

Finally, all the money was turned into checks drawn on the accounts of Jewish religious institutions. Sharir received from the Colombians 6 percent of the

turnover for his labors. Within a short period of time he moved with his family to a luxurious house in Woodmere, on Long Island. He purchased a luxury

Jaguar car, showered his wife Miryam with expensive jewels and donated lavishly to Jewish charities.

The troubles began in late 1988. In December his shop was raided by American customs and internal revenue agents, after they received notice from his

banks concerning the volume of his deposits. They brought dogs to sniff out drugs, carried out a meticulous search of the offices and took away cars fall of

documents. Sharir did no lose his cool. While the agents were milling around his offices, he managed to conceal $600,000 which were in his bank account at

the time and to transfer the money to a safe place. Simultaneously, Sharir fell out with his Colombian operators who claimed that he stole $26 million of their

drug money. Sharir, who denied the accusation, hired an Israeli professional investigator, Lihu Ichilov, to solve the mystery. Ichilov soon became Sharir's

partner. He flew to Panama, established two dummy corporations there, opened bank accounts and improved the laundering routes.

Following the Federal agents' raid on his offices Sharir did not give up.Within two weeks he opened two other offices on 47th Street and resumed work.

When asked by one of his lawyers how he had expected to escape the attentions of the law, Sharir replied: "I changed my system and believed that now, with

God's help, I would never be caught." Sharir's new system included Rabbi Yosef Crozet whom we discussed earlier. Crozer's big mouth brought Sharir

down, and he was arrested in March 1990. Crozer also led to Sharir confessing to having laundered $200 million. His wife Miryam was arrested together

with him. Sharir, under the pressure of the interrogation, agreed to cooperate in exchange for his wife's release and the cancellation of the charges against her.

The prosecution agreed.

It was an extremely good deal as far as the prosecution was concerned. For three months Sharir fed the Federal investigators with most valuable information

concerning the Jewish laundering industry. The information included names, methods of operation, codes, and bank accounts. Sharir led them to the exposure

of what is termed the new "cocaine triangle".

His information led to the incrimination of more than 35 Jewish launderers, the capture of $10 million and the breakup of numerous Jewish laundering rings.

Among others, Sharir incriminated the biggest laundering shark in the history of the US, Stephan Scorkia. The information given by Sharir, who testified at his

trial, directly led to his conviction. Scorkia was charged with laundering $300 million, and was sentenced to 660 years' imprisonment.

Sharir is now enrolled in the US witness protection program. He lives under an assumed identity, has been released on bail, travels under heavy security

between New York, Rhode Island, Arizona and other states, testifies in criminal trials and goes on.

His wife Miryam divorced him shortly after the affair erupted. She refuses to comment on the matter and told the Daily News: "I have no intention of talking. I

divorced Aharon in order to distance myself from him and from his friends, and that is exactly what I am doing."

Sharir was directly responsible for the flight of at least 35 Colombians from the US back to Colombia. One of the escapees was Duvan Arbolda, one of the

Kali cartel's major launderers. Arbolda was charged in a Manhattan court of laundering on a vast scale, following Sliarir's testimony. Afler he completes his

testifying, Sharir himself will stand trial.

The prosecution will agree to a very low sentence, but this does not improve his chances of survival. "At present, Aharon Sharir heads the Kali cartel's

wanted list," said an American customs official. Charges have also been served against Lihu Ichilov, Sharir's partner. However, Ichilov fled to Israel on the

eve of his trial, in January 199 1. That was the period of the Gulf War and the judge, Richard Owen, who tried Ichilov in absentia, said: "Mr. Ichilov

apparently prefers to face the horror of Scud missiles falling on Israel than the American justice system."

Note 1. The Satmar Hassidic sect fiercely opposes Zionism. The present rabbi's uncle and predecessor (the position of a rabbi among the Hassids is limited

to the members of "the sacred family"), Yoel Taitelbaum, had published learned books in which Zionism was described as an invention of Satan, Israeli

victories (especially the one in the Six Day War) were attributed solely to the direct help given to the Israeli army, while the Holocaust was being "justified" as

the Divine punishment of the Jews for the sin of some of them becoming Zionists. The present rabbi, although formally continuing the teachings of his uncle,

has the most amicable relations with the Israeli government.

====================

CODOH – Box 439016/P-111, San Diego, CA, USA 92143

David Irving's Reply to Jeffrey Shallit's "Lies of Our Times"

Installed: 5/16/98, 6: 00 PM, PST

Last updated July 21, 1997

Calendar of Conspiracy: A Chronology of Anti-Government Extremist Criminal

Activity, January to June 1997

A Militia Watchdog Special Report

INTRODUCTION

The following is a chronology of some of the events surrounding anti-government criminal activity in the United States

during the first half of the year 1997. It illustrates both the scope of such activity-from large-scale acts of terrorism to local

acts of harassment and intimidation-and its geographic extent-from major cities like Los Angeles and New York to remote

rural areas in Texas and Montana. The chronology is not comprehensive. Although all major events are included, no

systemized reporting system exists for smaller scale events. As a result, arrests or convictions for charges such as placing

bogus liens, impersonating a public official or committing similar offenses are considerably underrepresented in this report.

Such activities occur with a high level of frequency across the nation. More than thirty-three states are listed in this report;

however, incidents are occurring in every state.

JANUARY

January 2, South Dakota: In Rapid City, South Dakota, "freeman" Bill Huseby is bound over for trial. He is charged with

sending false documents to the Pennington county Sheriff's Office, a former judge, and a private citizen; also, three

misdemeanor charges.

January 6, Washington: Seattle resident Richard Frank Burton, arrested with eight other individuals last July on various

weapons and conspiracy charges, pleads guilty in U.S. District court to one count of conspiracy and three other charges. His

wife, Caitlin Hansen, pleads guilty to one count of destroying and concealing evidence. A third individual, Theodore Carter,

pleads guilty to one conspiracy charge and agrees to testify against his fellow defendants. The three are part of a mixed

group of militia members and "sovereign citizens."

January 6, Oklahoma: Three common-law court advocates plead guilty in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to a federal conspiracy charge.

Kenny Moore, Colleen Moore and Wayne Gunwall had filed bogus liens on IRS agents to the amount of $7 million, and had

issued "citizens arrest warrants" against several federal officials. The trial of another defendant, Dan Meador, begins on

January 8.

January 10, Oklahoma: Dan Meador is convicted of obstructing justice and illegally communicating with a member of a

federal grand jury (see above).

January 13, Virginia: Two Mechanicsville, VA, residents are sentenced to eighteen months in prison on tax evasion charges.

Jerry Martin and his wife Sadie Martin, Christian Identity adherents, were "sovereign citizens" who denied the legal

existence of the United States.

January 16, Oregon: Common law court activist Charles Stewart, leader of a Portland, Oregon group, tries "in absentia"

seven IRS agents at his Kangaroo court. Two weeks later, the "court" rules that four of the agents should pay fines of

$100,000 each for seizing a Portland home. However, it was up to the man whose home was seized to collect the money.

January 22, Georgia, North Carolina: District Attorney Albert Taylor, Jr., prosecutor for the Enotah Circuit in Georgia, requests

and receives a "writ of non molestando" to stop a "sovereign citizen," Melvin Julius Robinson, from harassing him.

Robinson's actions included filing a $100 million frivolous lawsuit against him and demanding that Taylor appear before the

"Our One Supreme Court" of Franklin, North Carolina. In response, Taylor dusted off an ancient writ that probably had never

been used in the state to restrain Robinson from using the legal process to "molest, vilify, obstruct, or hinder" the lawful

discharge of official duties.

January 24, Missouri: Five common law court advocates in Lincoln County, Missouri, are sentenced to two years in prison

and a $5,000 fine, and a sixth, Dennis Logan, is sentenced to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The defendants were

charged with tampering with a judicial official-specifically, filing a $10.8 million bogus lien against a judge to force him to

drop a speeding case involving the daughter of one of the defendants. Nine other defendants, also convicted, have yet to be

sentenced.

January 24, Minnesota: Michael Moeller is charged in Winona County, Minnesota, of making terroristic threats. Moeller, a

militia sympathizer, threatened to blow up the headquarters of the state Department of Natural Resources, where he formerly

worked.

January 28, Wisconsin: Sally Minniecheske, the wife of Wisconsin Posse Comitatus leader Donald Minniecheskie, is

sentenced to nine months for disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and fleeing arrest. The charges stemmed from a

1995 incident during a property seizure in which Minniecheskie threatened a police chief and led him on a car chase through

Tigerton, Wisconsin. The Minniecheskies have been involved in anti-government activities in Tigerton for more than twenty

years.

January 30, Pennsylvania: In Philadelphia, Christian Identity minister Mark Thomas is indicted on conspiracy charges

related to the armed robberies committed by the "Midwestern Bank Bandits," who dubbed themselves the "Aryan

Republican Army." Also arrested is Michael Brescia. Brescia and Thomas bring the total number arrested for these robberies

to six.

January 30, Mississippi, Tennessee: Armed militia members from Mississippi precipitate an unexpected standoff near

Memphis, Tennessee, when they show up to halt the eviction of two Southaven residents from their home. Local officials

back away from the eviction and say they will pursue the matter in court some more.

FEBRUARY

February 6, California: Two California men are found guilty of fraud in San Jose for passing bogus checks created by the

Montana Freemen. The jury finds Robert Young guilty of conspiracy, three counts of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud,

and one count of filing a false claim with the IRS. Frank Pepper is convicted on two counts of mail fraud. Two other

defendants, Leonard Ferrier and Dawn Onalfo, had plead guilty before the trial.

February 10, Connecticut: Nena Frankle and John Barney are arrested by local police on charges of interfering with police

and criminal trespass, after they resisted attempts by authorities in Connecticut to take possession of their foreclosed

residence. Frankle and Barney are members of a group of Connecticut common law court advocates and tax protesters

which advocates such resistance.

February 10, Ohio: Peter Langan is convicted in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, of five felonies related to 1994 armed

robberies of banks in Columbus and Cincinnati. Langan is the leader of the "Midwestern Bank Bandits," who claimed to

engage in armed robbery to support their revolutionary struggle.

February 14, Missouri: The remaining seven common law court activists of the thirteen convicted earlier in Missouri receive

their sentences: six activists sentenced to two years in prison and a seventh activist to seven years. All additionally must pay

a $5,000 fine.

Ca. February 15, Washington: Charles Miller and three other men are arrested in Washington on sixteen counts of

conspiracy to defraud banks, mail fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property. Another accomplice, Kathleen

Cottam, was arrested earlier and pled guilty. The suspects had obtained bogus money orders from Montana Freeman

leader LeRoy Schweitzer in 1995 and had been using them to buy cars and motor homes in Washington. Charles

Christenson, Kurt Gilson, and Veryl Knowles were also arrested.

February 15, Ohio, Washington, Arkansas, Montana, Utah: Near Wilmington, Ohio, Chevie and Cheyne Kehoe, two brothers

from Washington, engage in two shootouts with local police during and following a routine traffic stop. A bystander is

wounded. The Kehoes, Christian Identity adherents with ties to Aryan Nations and other white supremacist groups, avoid an

intensive manhunt and vanish along with their families. Their mobile home is later found near Casper, Wyoming. Chevie

Kehoe is wanted for questioning in connection with the murders of an Arkansas gun dealer with ties to the militia movement,

and his family.

February 18, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Aryan Nations leader Mark Thomas pleads guilty to plotting seven bank robberies

and using the cash to further the cause of white supremacy in connection with the Midwestern Bank Bandits.

February 20, Georgia: Three Georgia militia members receive stiff sentences for their roles in a conspiracy to build pipe

bombs for use against the federal government. Bob Starr is given 8 years, one month; while James McCranie and Troy

Spain are sentenced to six S years in prison each.

February 20, Minnesota: Three Minnesota residents receive convictions for attempting to pass bogus checks obtained from

the Montana Freemen. Marilyn Kerkvliet and Robert Leffler are convicted of eight counts of mail fraud and passing

counterfeit checks each. Ronald Kerkvliet is convicted of a single count of mail fraud.

February 21, Montana, North Carolina: The first conviction arrives for members of the Montana Freemen, who held off

authorities for 81 days in the spring of 1996. Russell Landers and an associate, James Vincent Wells, are convicted of seven

and twelve federal fraud and conspiracy counts, respectively, ending a trial marked by combative behavior by Landers. The

two used bogus money orders to purchase vehicles to drive back to Montana.

February 21, Washington: Supporters of the Washington militia/freemen defendants on trial in Seattle file a $1.76 billion lien