http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-884475.mp3
Kansas City, Mo. – A federal judge in Kansas City has sentenced three men for selling fraudulent credentials they claimed would make people immune to the requirements of citizenship.
The men are involved in the "sovereign citizens movement", an ultra-right wing outfit that rejects most federal government authority.
They sold laminated business cards that they claimed entitled the holders to get out of paying taxes, or even upholding US laws. The cards were stamped with the seal of the US State Department, and said "Diplomatic Identification" and sold for $450 to $2000 a piece.
There's some evidence they believed in the product. Police in Kansas City arrested David Robinson, a 67-year-old from Lawrence, when he tried to use his "Diplomatic Identification" card to get out of a traffic ticket.
Robinson drew six years and three months in prison, without parole.
The other two, Daniel Denham, a 51-year-old Kingsville Missouri man, and 53-year-old Larry Goodyke, who's from Nevada, got five years each, no parole.