Man Barricades Self in Home After Tax Trial

A New Hampshire man has said that he will defend himself against capture on tax charges if necessary, according to U.S. marshals.The government said that they have no plan of escalating the situation, after a jury decided that Edward and Elaine Brown plotted to hide their income and avoid taxes on Elaine’s nearly $2 million income between 1996 and 2003. According to the jury, over the past decade, the couple also used more than $215,000 of postal money orders to pay for their hilltop compound and for Elaine Brown's dental offices.

A jury also found that Elaine didn't pay adequate taxes for her practice's employees, all of which lead to a total of 17 felony convictions.

According to local newspapers, since Edward Brown heard of the verdict in the middle of an interview with a radio station, he has since stayed in his wooded, 110-acre home -- which features a watchtower that offers 360-degree views of the rural setting -- and all the while quoting the state’s official motto, "Live free or die.”

The couple is due to be sentenced April 24, although Elaine Brown has said she has no intention of returning to the home and U.S. marshals have no plans to confront Edward.

The Browns were charged with conspiring to evade taxes, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising large transactions, all the while maintaining that there was no law requiring them to pay federal income taxes.

Elaine Brown has testified that she had tried to work out a payment plan with the Internal Revenue Service unsuccessfully, while a jury found that the Browns must forfeit $215,000, at least part of which must by satisfied by giving up their home or the dental practice's offices.

In the meanwhile, Ed Brown, a retired exterminator, has stayed home to protest the system that he has said has already convicted him. And during the past few decades, Brown has claimed membership in several anti-government and militia groups.

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