The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, that a year-long investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation resulted in a 320-count indictment, and 10 people were arrested, including some Anderson County residents, on charges of unlawfully filing liens and making false entries into records. (Photo courtesy TBI)
Note: This story was last updated at 4:05 p.m.
The 10 men arrested in February after a year-long investigation into fraudulent liens filed in East Tennessee have filed about $2 billion worth of liens against local officials and law enforcement officers, as well as local, state, and federal agencies—and others, including corporations and law firms, according to state records released Monday.
The liens filed by the 10 men have a range of collateral values, but many of them are for $4 million, $8 million, and $12 million. The liens have been filed against county mayors and sheriffs, police chiefs and officers, and prosecutors and judges, among others. At least some of the liens are alleged to be fraudulent.
A summary of the liens, listed in spreadsheet format, was released Monday by the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett in response to a request from Oak Ridge Today.
A lien is a claim that one person owes something to another. Liens can be filed online in Tennessee, although filing a fraudulent lien is a criminal offense.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that the actions of the 10 men are common within the sovereign citizen ideology.
Sovereign citizens don’t recognize governmental authority or law enforcement, they reject the concept of U.S. citizenship, and they have sometimes been associated with violence, according to state and local officials.
“When arrested or challenged, they typically try to bog down the criminal justice system with nonsensical court filings or to intimidate or complicate their legal cases by filing baseless liens against everyone involved,” Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said in February.
The East Tennessee liens first started gaining widespread attention after Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Judge Don Elledge had to recuse himself last year from a vehicular homicide case involving Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, of Oak Ridge, because of liens that Cromwell had filed against Elledge.
TBI special agents began their investigation at the request of Clark in May 2016. That was about the time that Elledge learned that Cromwell had filed a lien against him.
The TBI said the report it received was that, over a period of several years, multiple people from East Tennessee had filed Uniform Commercial Code liens and financing statements with the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office in Nashville. The liens were filed against dozens of different people across the state, encumbering their property, the TBI said. The victims who had these liens filed against them included people employed by government agencies, police officers and attorneys, and elected and appointed officials, including city and county mayors, sheriffs, and members of the judiciary.
The case was ultimately assigned to a special prosecutor with the Davidson County District Attorney General’s Office. (Nashville and the Secretary of State’s Office, where the liens were filed, are in Davidson County). On January 24, the Davidson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging 11 people with a combined total of 320 counts of two charges: draw a lien without a legal basis, which is a Class E felony, and forgery of $250,000 or more, a Class A felony.
The 10 men arrested on February 16 were arrested by teams that included agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The arrests in Anderson, Cocke, Greene, and Knox counties also included officers from other state and local law enforcement agencies.
Here is the collateral value of the liens filed by those arrested last month, according to the records released Monday by the Tennessee Secretary of State. Half of those arrested in February live in Anderson County.
Michael Birdsell
Michael Robert Birdsell, 54, Andersonville—$44 million in liens.
Among those he has named as debtors, most of whom appear to be current or former public officials or employees in the area: William T. Jones, Steve R. Queener, Ronald Nathan Murch, Emily Faye Abbott, Ken Morgan, Shannon Runyan, Jerry Vann, and Josephine D. Clark.
Agencies listed as debtors include General Sessions Court II, Anderson County Chancery Court, and Oliver Springs Police Department.
Birdsell has been charged with 10 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and eight counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
Victor Bunch
Victor Douglas Bunch, 72, Powell—$257,901,127 in liens.
Among those he has named as debtors: Ramona Walker, Joseph H. Van Hook, Nick Armes, Ken Morgan, Jerry Vann, Charles Graham, Tracy Trott, David W. Purkey, Cecil Crowe, Paul White, Jack Stockton, William T. Jones, Roger A. Miller, Dave Clark, Bradley Aytes, and Terry Frank.
Bunch has also listed agencies as debtors, including Department of the Treasury—IRS, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association, Oliver Springs Police Department, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Anderson County Sheriff Office, Roane County Sheriff Office, General Sessions Court Division I, Anderson County District Attorney Office, and Anderson County.
Bunch has been charged with 17 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and 17 counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
Austin Gary Cooper
Austin Gary Cooper, 68, Clinton—$328,043,940 in liens.
Among those Cooper has listed as debtors: eight people in Texas and one in Arizona; Jack Cannon and Michael Caudill in Jacksboro; Reid Alan Spaulding in Knoxville; Bill Gibbons and Tracy Trott of Nashville; and others, most of whom appear to be East Tennessee officials: William T. Jones, Don A. Layton, Dave Clark, Paul White, Tim Burchett, Ron Woody, Buddy Bradshaw, and Michael Pemberton. Others include John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Howard G. Hogan, and Michael B. Menefee of Knoxville, and Lisa Niles of Loudon.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Walmart; Jacksboro Police Department; Deutsche Bank National Trust Company; JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association; Watson, Roach, Batson, Rowell, and Lauderback PLC; Department of the Treasury—IRS; General Sessions Court of Anderson County Division I, Anderson County Sheriff Office; District Attorney Office, 7th Judicial District; Tennessee Office of Safety and Homeland Security; and Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County.
Cooper has been charged with 10 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and 10 counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
Lee Cromwell
Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, Oak Ridge—$137,630,633.73 in liens.
Among those Cromwell listed as debtors: William T. Jones, Donald R. Elledge, Dave Clark, Victoria Bannach, James T. Akagi, Grant Gouldie, Roger A. Miller, and Ben Higgins.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Department of the Treasury—IRS; Social Security Administration Southeastern Program Service; Oak Ridge Police Department; Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Court; Anderson County District Attorney Office; and Anderson County General Sessions Court.
Cromwell has been charged with 14 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and 14 counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
Cromwell was convicted in Anderson County Criminal Court on February 15 on one count of vehicular homicide and eight charges of aggravated assault. Oak Ridge Today has previously reported on the liens filed by Cromwell.
Kenneth Ray Foust
Kenneth Ray Foust, 73, Clinton—$144 million in liens.
Among those Foust listed as debtors: Michael Pemberton and Ron Woody of Kingston; Lisa Niles and Buddy Bradshaw of Loudon; and Tim Burchett, John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Michael B. Menefee, and Howard G. Hogan of Knoxville.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County.
Foust has been charged with three counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and three counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
Christopher Hauser
Christopher Alan Hauser, 51, Del Rio—$192 million in liens.
Among those Hauser listed as debtors: Raquel Hatter, Tracy Trott, and David W. Purkey of Nashville; Melissa S. Hauser, Richard Robert Vance, James Norman Acuff, Peggy W. Lane, and Jeffery Scott Greene of Newport; Telford E. Forgety and O. Duane Slone of Dandridge; Lu Ann Ballew and Ben W. Hooper of Jefferson City; Michael Pemberton and Ron Woody of Kingston; Tim Burchett, John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Michael B. Menefee, and Howard G. Hogan of Knoxville; and Lisa Niles and Buddy Bradshaw of Loudon.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: State of Tennessee Department of Human Services—Child Support Services; Circuit Court of Cocke County Tennessee in Newport; Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security; and Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County.
Hauser has been charged with 21 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and 21 counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
Ronald Lyons
Ronald James Lyons, 52, Newport—$384 million in liens.
Among those Lyons listed as debtors: Rhonda F. Day, Randy Roe, Matthew Sexton, and Roger D. Overholt of Morristown; Tim Burchett, Reid A. Spalding, John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Michael B. Menefee, and Howard G. Hogan of Knoxville; Lisa Niles and Buddy Bradshaw of Loudon; Michael Pemberton and Ron Woody of Kingston; and Susan Lowe and Bill Gibbons of Nashville.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Webb-badge Number 1136; City of Morristown; Watson, Roach, Batson, Rowell, and Lauderback PLC; Tennessee Office of Safety and Homeland Security; and Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County
Lyons has been charged with 30 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and 30 counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
James Usinger
James Michael Usinger, 64, Greeneville—$278,183,261.43 in liens.
Among those Usinger listed as debtors: Joy Rader Nunnally, Kay Solomon Armstrong, and John Stills of Greeneville; Tim Burchett, Mark S. Schilling, John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Michael B. Menefee, and Howard G. Hogan of Knoxville; Tracy Trott and David W. Purkey of Nashville; Michael Pemberton and Ron Woody of Kingston; and Lisa Niles and Buddy Bradshaw of Loudon.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Department of the Treasury—IRS; State of Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security; Greene County Sheriff Office; Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County.
Usinger has been charged with 22 counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and 22 counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
George Edward Williams, 76, Powell—$144 million in liens.
Among those George Williams has listed as debtors: Michael Pemberton and Ron Woody of Kingston; John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Michael B. Menefee, Howard G. Hogan, and Tim Burchett of Knoxville; and Lisa Niles and Buddy Bradshaw of Loudon.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County.
George Williams has been charged with three counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and three counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
John Jeffrey Williams
John Jeffrey Williams, 50, Powell—$144 million in liens.
Among those John Williams has listed as debtors: Michael Pemberton and Ron Woody of Kingston; John F. Weaver, Mark E. Brown, Michael B. Menefee, Howard G. Hogan, and Tim Burchett of Knoxville; and Lisa Niles and Buddy Bradshaw of Loudon.
Among the agencies he listed as debtors: Knox County, Loudon County, and Roane County.
John Williams has been charged with three counts of draw a lien without a legal basis, and three counts of forgery of $250,000 or more.
It’s not clear that liens filed against an agency, as opposed to a person, have resulted in criminal charges. The 302-count indictment announced by the TBI on February 16 appeared to only include charges for liens filed against people, as opposed to agencies.
It’s also not clear if there will be any federal charges for liens filed against federal agencies such as the IRS.
Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said sovereign citizens typically do not believe that they have to abide by the rules everyone else follows because they have declared their personal independence from government. They might not pay taxes, not register their vehicles, or not carry driver’s licenses, among other things. At the time of his fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center on July 4, 2015, Cromwell was driving on a suspended license, according to an arrest warrant.
“Perhaps they thought they were going to intimidate law enforcement, judges, and other government officials and employees,” Clark said. “Whether they sought to intimidate or retaliate, a group identified as sovereign citizens in Anderson County began filing liens against Anderson County police officers, prosecutors, judges, court clerks, and other officials and employees who had any involvement in giving them a ticket, collecting their court costs, prosecuting their crimes, judging their case, etc. This sovereign citizen group included Lee Harold Cromwell, who was convicted (Wednesday, March 15) of vehicular homicide and multiple counts of aggravated assault for driving his truck through a group of citizens gathered for a Fourth of July fireworks show.”
Clark and his wife both had liens filed against them and were victims, so he asked another district attorney general in Tennessee to take over the investigation.
Clark said the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force helped the TBI with the investigation.
“For some of the victims, these fraudulent liens may have caused a tremendous hardship,” Clark said. “Borrowing to buy a home or even selling a home, as well as other financial transactions, could be prevented by an outstanding lien against a person or their property.”
The Tennessee Secretary of State has drafted proposed legislation in response to the filing of allegedly fraudulent liens. The legislation is sponsored by Tennessee Representative William Lamberth, a Cottontown Republican, and Senator Brian Kelsey, a Germantown Republican.
“The bill would combat the issue of fraudulent liens filed against public and elected officials, as well as certain state and local employees,” said Adam Ghassemi, director of communications for Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett. “If passed, there would be a mechanism for these fraudulent liens to be permanently removed from the alleged ‘debtor’s’ record. The public official can file a sworn affidavit stating that the lien did not have any reasonable basis or legal cause, and after a short amount of time, the lien will be permanently removed. If the lien was validly filed, the secured party has the option of appealing to an administrative law judge.
“We believe this process will provide an expedited and uncomplicated process to remove fraudulently filed liens.”
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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