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You gotta have some bondage to break some bondage

April 26, 2010

A fifteen-year prison term seems like a funny way to break free from bondage, but that's the path ahead for Lindsey Kent Springer, the self-styled founder of Bondage Breakers Ministry. A federal judge in Oklahoma sentenced Mr. Springer and an attorney, Oscar Amos Stilley, to 180-month terms on tax charges. From a Department of Justice press release:

Springer used the name Bondage Breakers Ministry to solicit and receive money. His stated purpose for Bondage Breakers Ministry was "to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service." Stilley, an attorney and tax advisor, assisted Springer's tax evasion scheme through a variety of means. Stilley maintained an interest bearing account, called an Arkansas IOLTA Foundation Trust account, which lawyers use to deposit and hold client funds. The pair used the IOLTA account and various other devices such as cashier's checks, check cashing services, money orders, cash and other means to conceal Springer's actual income and avoid creating the usual records of financial institutions. Springer told IRS employees that all funds he receives are gifts and donations to his ministry, and that he does not have any income. He also stated he does not provide any services for payment. There were numerous transactions involving hundreds of thousands of dollars between Springer and Stilley that flowed through the IOLTA account, such as $166,000 paid out in August 2005 to purchase a motor home titled in the name of Springer and his wife, and a September 2005 payment of $25,813 to purchase a Lexus automobile titled in Springer's name.

There have been other cases of attorneys using trust accounts to facilitate tax fraud, but this one is the most ambitious (stupid) to surface in some time. A web site that tracks tax protest figures has this background:

Until he was convicted on multiple federal tax violations, Springer used the web site "Penalty Protester!" to promote his theory and post information about ongoing court cases. He also described himself as the founder of "Bondage Breakers Ministries," which he formed to "expose the violations of the written law committed by the Internal Revenue Service."...

Currently in federal custody after having been sentenced on federal criminal tax convictions, Springer is a full-fledged goofball, having once sued every one of the 50 states for failing to put him on the ballot for President of the United States. Springer v. Alabama et al., 2000 WL 305492, No. 99-5227 (10th Cir. 3/24/2000) (sanctions of $1,000 imposed for frivolous appeal).

Silly man, thinking he should be President. Tax violations only qualify you for cabinet positions.

Tags: Bondage Breakers.tax crime.tax protesters.Timothy Geithner.

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