After two
years on the lam, a leading member of the anti-government “Sovereign Movement”
was convicted July 24 in federal court in connection with a $ 1.3 million money
laundering scheme.
Nevada U.S.
District Judge James Mahan found Shawn Rice, 49, of Seligman, Arizona, guilty
on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, 13 counts of money
laundering and four counts of failure to appear after a two-day trial. He could
receive up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy and money
laundering counts, and 10 years for each count of failure to appear. Rice will
be sentenced October 24.
Based on
testimonies during the trial, Rice and co-defendant Samuel Davis, 57, of
Council, Idaho, had laundered $1.3 million, believed to have come from theft
and forgery of stolen official bank checks, from March 2008 to March 2009. The
two accused laundered the money through a nominee trust account controlled by
Davis and a religious organization controlled by Rice. Reportedly, Davis
received $74,000 for the laundering while Rice got $22,000.
Rice had
originally been charged in March 2009, but he failed to show up in court for
the next two years until he was rearrested in December 2011. Davis until now is
still a fugitive.
Rice,a
self-proclaimed rabbi and lawyer,
waived his right to a jury and represented himself during
the 1½-day trial before Judge Mahan. He
contended that he was entrapped and that the federal court had no authority to
take action against him.
The evidence
presented during the trial showed that Rice had laundered more than $705,000 of
$1.3 million for undercover FBI agents. Rice argued that he had no
predisposition to get involved in the conspiracy and was the victim of
"unscrupulous" federal agents.