FAIRBANKS, Alaska, March 11 (UPI) -- Investigators in Alaska say five reputed members of the Sovereign Citizen Movement watched the homes of two state troopers and planned to kill them.
The five were arrested Thursday in a joint federal-state operation, the (Fairbanks) Daily News-Miner reported. One of the suspects, Lonnie Vernon, 56, of Salcha, also faces federal charges of threatening to kill the judge presiding over a tax case, federal prosecutors said.
All five are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping and arson. Investigators say the suspects had a weapons cache and conducted surveillance on the troopers' houses.
The other defendants include Vernon's wife, Karen; Schaeffer Cox, 26, of Fairbanks; Coleman Barney of North Pole; and Michael Anderson, whose address was not given. Salcha is a hamlet and North Pole a small city in the Fairbanks area.
The Sovereign Citizen Movement is considered by the federal government to be a terrorist group. Members claim English common law is the only applicable legal code and reject federal, state and local laws.
The Vernons have been fighting the Internal Revenue Service's effort to seize their house for non-payment of taxes.
