the underdog."
Oh really? Can you tell by his latest "story"?: "
Re: The "Concord Monitor", Sunday, May 20th, 2012 @ pages D1+4
"THE BROWNS' REVENGE
Five years later, property taxes remain unpaid
By JIM KENYON, Valley News
--An anniversary, of sorts, is coming up next month. On June 7, five years will have passed since the U.S. Marshal's Service deployed armed federal agents to seize the two-story office building in West Lebanon that once housed Elaine Brown's dental practice.
--Last week, I peered through the first-floor windows of the shuttered building, which is situated across the street from the Powerhouse Mall on Glen Road. Dentist chairs, spittoons, electric drills and other tools of Brown's trade still fill exam rooms.
--For property tax purposes, the city has assessed the building and commercially zoned one-acre lot at $995,000.
--'It's ridiculous that it just sits there,' said Bruce Waters, senior real estate broker for Long McLaughty Commercial in West Lebanon. 'At this point, the land might be worth more than the building.'
--In neighboring Plainfield, the private road leading to Elaine and Ed Brown's house is blocked by a padlocked metal gate. 'U.S. Property. No Trespassing,' warn signs nailed to trees at the entrance of the 100-acre parcel.
--Plainfield listers have assessed the property's value at $675,000.
--The house has been unoccupied since the Browns' nine month standoff ended peacefully in October 2007, when under-cover U.S. Marshal agents duped the tax-evading couple into thinking they were sympathizers with their anti-government crusade. The Browns had gone nearly a decade without paying federal taxes on roughly $2 million of income.
--In 2008, the Browns were convicted of weapons, conspiracy and tax-related felonies that virtually guaranteed they will spend the rest of their lives - apart - See BROWNS - D4
behind bars. (Neither is scheduled for release until the early 2040.)
--Ed Brown, 69, is serving his time at the federal prison in Marion, Ill. Elaine Brown, 71, who has suffered from failing health in recent years, is at a medical center for federal inmates in Fort Worth, Texas.
--Even though they are behind prison walls, the Browns may be getting a bit of revenge. In the years leading up to their standoff, the Browns placed the titles to their properties in a half dozen or so private trusts controlled by multiple trustees.
--Before the federal government could sell the two properties, which have a combined assessed value of $1.6 million, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Justice Department had to figure out whether the trusts were legitimate and if the trustees even existed.
--I think it's fair to assume that untangling the Browns' real estate web didn't rank with hunting down Osama bin Laden on the feds' priority list. Thus, the office building in West Lebanon and house in Plainfield have sat empty for nearly five years.
--Meanwhile, the meter has been running since 2008 on the Browns' unpaid property taxes. In Lebanon, the bill has reached $150,232. Even in a small city with a $49.2 million budget that's no small amount. I imagine the non-profit social services agencies that had their contributions from the city slashed this year might have benefited from those extra dollars in Lebanon's coffers.
--In Plainfield, the Browns' delinquent property tax tab, including interest, stands at $109,460. 'For a town our size, it's a big deal.' said Plainfield Town Administrator Steve Halleran.
--In December, the Justice Department finally initiated the legal proceedings needed for the government to obtain the right to sell the properties. In federal court documents, a Justice Department lawyer argued the Browns had established 'sham trusts' and transferred 'property into the names of those 'trusts' with the intent to defraud creditors including the United States.'
--In April, Ed Brown responded to the feds with a handwritten note. 'My Lord and savior the Christ Jesus advises me that I shall not comply to your requests and/or requirements, because of my moral principles of right, wrong and honor.' ) Apparently, 4 1/2 years in prison haven't changed Brown's feelings about the federal government.)
--With the Justice Department looking to collect nearly $3 million in unpaid federal taxes, interest and penalties, it's unlikely that, even if the two properties fetch top dollar at auction, there will be enough money to go around.
--So where does that leave Lebanon and Plainfield tax-payers?
--The feds stand to get the first bite of the apple, but not necessarily the biggest bite, layers for the two communities told me last week. The folks in Washington might recover some expenses, including the cost of prosecuting the Browns and maintaining the two properties since they were seized. (Judging from the over-grown shrub-bery and rot-ting window frames at the West Lebanon office building, however, the feds haven;t spent a lot on upkeep.)
--But there's good reason to believe that Lebanon and Plainfield will eventually receive their delinquent tax money, a combined $260,000 to date. Municipalities owed property taxes tend to be placed near the front of the collection line, said Shawn Tanguay, a Lebanon attorney who is representing the city in the matter. (I called Andrew De Mello, the Justice Depart-ment attorney in Washington handling the case, but he declined to talk about it.)
--'There's not a whole lot the town can do at this point. It's in federal court.' said Plainfield's town attorney, Barry Schuster, of Lebanon. 'We agree with what the federal government is doing to clear the title and sell the property.'
--When might it all be resolved? 'Maybe not months,' said Schuster, 'but hopefully not years.'
--That would be good. Just like the Browns' property tax bills, and ending is long over-due."
Words to the page D1 color picture and page D4 B&W photo to follow, plus that insert that indented into columns #2 + 3 of 4 on page D4 being: "Nearly five years in prison hasn't changed Ed Brown's feelings about the feds." "