Man stays jailed in Browns case
He's accused of aiding tax-resisting couple
By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
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September 18. 2007 12:21AM
A Vermont man charged with helping Plainfield tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown escape capture agreed yesterday to stay in jail until his November trial.
Prosecutors argued that Robert Wolffe, 50, of Randolph, Vt., had provided support to the Browns by lending them a car, acting as a conduit for supplies and spending time at their fortified home with weapons. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen, Wolffe told investigators that he intended to fight and die for the Browns if marshals tried to capture them. He was one of four Brown supporters arrested by marshals last week.
The Browns, who were both convicted of a series of tax-related crimes, have remained holed up in their fortified concrete home for months, threatening violence if marshals come to arrest them. The Browns contend that they are not liable for federal income taxes and have attracted the attention and support of others who share their views and their disdain for the federal government. They have endured with the help of a range of supporters, who have brought food, weapons, cell phones and other supplies.
In a court hearing yesterday, Huftalen tried to make the case for Wolffe's continued detention, arguing that Wolffe was a danger to the community and likely to flee if he was released from federal custody. According to Huftalen, marshals found Wolffe's home filled with strategically located weapons, including an AK-47 and a Ruger rifle when they visited to interview his wife, Valeri, the day Wolffe was arrested. When they returned later with a search warrant, all of the weapons had been hidden in the back of her SUV, along with noise protection earmuffs, several full boxes of ammunition and two packed suitcases. In an interview that night, Valeri Wolffe told marshals that she'd planned to pick up her husband after his release and go away for a few days, Huftalen said.
"The defendant was planning to flee, most likely to the Browns' house, where the defendant stated he was willing to fight and die," Huftalen said.
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Huftalen said that Valeri Wolffe told an internet radio host that she and her husband had communicated using code words on the day of his arrest, a contention that Wolffe's attorney disputed. When marshals searched Valeri Wolffe's work computer at the Department of Transportation, they found a 62-page document, sent by her husband, "which can best be described as a book on how to kill government agents," Huftalen said. One chapter was titled "Let's get lethal."
Paul Garrity, Wolffe's lawyer, argued that Wolffe was a nonviolent man with strong ties to his Vermont community. He said that actions undertaken by Wolffe's wife ought not to reflect badly on his client. Valeri Wolffe packed the weapons in the car, Garrity said, only after she was advised to do so by the radio host. He also said that Wolffe had not read the book found on his wife's work computer because he had been unable to open the file himself. The weapons, he said, had been purchased legally.
"He's basically a peaceful person with some pretty strong views," Garrity said.
According to Garrity, Valeri Wolffe had videotaped her husband's interview with investigators. He said the interview had "been totally misconstrued by the government," and he offered to show the recording to the judge as proof. Just before the video would have aired in the courtroom, Wolffe agreed to remain in jail.
During the hearing, the prosecutor also reviewed allegations against Wolffe made in his grand jury indictment and an affidavit used to obtain his arrest warrant. According to the document, Wolffe delivered more than 500 pounds of dehydrated food along with camouflage outfits, fishing weights, fishing line and solar-powered security lights to the Browns. The items were among those on a long list of requested supplies posted on the internet. The list also included roofing nails, garage door openers, smoke grenades, night vision goggles and flare guns.
U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has confirmed reports that there are "dangerous conditions" on the Brown property. Ed Brown has bragged that there are traps in the woods surrounding his house. Other court documents allege that the Browns have black powder explosive grenades and may have other improvised explosive devices.
Wolffe is a longtime friend of Ed Brown and the Vermont commander of the U.S. Constitution Rangers, a national anti-government group that Ed Brown once led. He was one of four supporters of the couple who were arrested last week and charged with helping the Browns escape capture. Wolffe only faces one charge, for aiding and abetting the Browns. But the three other men face more charges, for conspiring to impede federal officers and for providing weapons to the Browns.
Jason Gerhard, 22, of Brookhaven, N.Y.; Cirino Gonzalez, 30, of Alice, Texas; and Daniel Riley, 40, of Cohoes, N.Y., will all be in court for similar detention hearings later this week. Riley's hearing had been scheduled for yesterday but was postponed at his request. Gerhard and Gonzalez are awaiting transport from Missouri and Texas, where they were arrested. Monier said they may reach New Hampshire by tomorrow.
