• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • 2018 Election
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries












Exclusive: Cromwell, co-defendants sentenced to 20-50 years for fraudulent liens

Posted at 2:38 pm June 30, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in criminal court in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a criminal court hearing in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

NASHVILLE—Five East Tennessee men who have been identified as “sovereign citizens,” including one from Oak Ridge and another from Clinton, were sentenced to 20-50 years in prison on Wednesday after filing fraudulent liens worth hundreds of millions of dollars against public officials, law enforcement officers, and others.

The five defendants—who included Austin Gary Cooper, 69, of Clinton, and Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, of Oak Ridge—had earlier been convicted of more than 200 counts of forgery and filing unlawful liens. That was at the end of a six-day trial in Davidson County Criminal Court in Nashville in late April.

Their sentencing hearing was Wednesday. It lasted more than three hours.

The rest of this premium content is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

  • Monthly subscription ($10 per month)
  • Yearly subscription ($100 per year)
  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

Please let us know if you advertise on Oak Ridge Today, have recently contributed, or subscribe through PayPal or check payments, but you have not yet been added to our website as a member. You can send an email to [email protected] to be added. Thank you!

Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Courts, Davidson County, For Members, Front Page News, Nashville, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Slider, Tennessee Tagged With: 20th Judicial District, A. A. Birch Criminal Justice Building, Anderson County Criminal Court, Austin Gary Cooper, Cheryl Blackburn, Christopher Alan Hauser, Dave Clark, Davidson County Criminal Court, Don Elledge, Elaine Cuthbertson, Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force, filing fraudulent liens, forgery, forgery of more than $250000, fraudulent liens, Heather Brackett, James Michael Usinger, James Robinson, Jared Mollenkof, Lee Harold Cromwell, Lesli Oliver Wright, Mark Irwin, Midtown Community Center, Nashville public defender's office, Pamela Auble, paper terrorism, Roger Moore, Ronald James Lyons, Sarah King, sentencing hearing, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General, sovereign citizen, sovereign citizen ideology, sovereign citizens, TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tony Thompson, unlawful liens, vehicular homicide, Wendy Hamil

Advertisements





Join the club!

If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to Oak Ridge Today. You don't have to subscribe to read most of our stories, but your subscription does provide benefits, including access to premium content. And it will help us cover local news for you day and night, as best we can. You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month. You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers:

Basic
  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro
  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and join a private story discussion page
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and join a private story discussion page

Temporary
  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Police and Fire News

CTF search finds meth, heroin, pills in Briceville

CTF search finds meth, heroin, pills in Briceville

  A search by law enforcement officers at a home in Briceville last week found large amounts of methamphetamine and heroin, and hundreds of prescription pills, a press release said. Charges are pending, the … [Read More...]

Oak Ridge police chief to discuss crime, traffic safety

Oak Ridge police chief to discuss crime, traffic safety

  The next Lunch with the League program will be held on Tuesday, February 19.  The speaker will be Oak Ridge Police Department Chief Robin Smith.  His topic will be titled “Data Driven Approach to Crime and … [Read More...]

No injuries reported when car crashes into school bus

No injuries reported when car crashes into school bus

No one was injured when a car crashed into an Oak Ridge school bus on Thursday, police said. The two-vehicle crash was reported at about 6:55 a.m. Thursday in the eastbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike at Salem … [Read More...]

Man died after removing wife from fire, trying to rescue her special needs sister

Man died after removing wife from fire, trying to rescue her special needs sister

Law enforcement officials believe that a 64-year-old man removed his wife from a mobile home fire in Anderson County on Wednesday evening and died trying to rescue his special needs sister-in-law, who also died in the … [Read More...]

Updated: Officer legally entitled to use deadly force in fatal shooting, DA says

Updated: Officer legally entitled to use deadly force in fatal shooting, DA says

  Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m. Feb. 16. An Oak Ridge police officer was legally entitled to use lethal force against a man who was driving toward the officer when he was struck by two bullets … [Read More...]

More Police and Fire

Recent Posts

  • Lady Wildcats win fourth straight district championship
  • Ulster Project to celebrate peace-building with Mardi Gras event Saturday
  • (For members) MKAA prepares to provide aircraft approach data for Oak Ridge Airport
  • DOE needs more time for K-25 history projects
  • Work starts on next phase of Rails to Trails
  • CTF search finds meth, heroin, pills in Briceville
  • TVA releases draft power generation plan
  • (For members) Retiring Bull Run, Paradise could save millions, more than $1 billion in ‘lifetime costs’
  • Council, DOE to discuss proposed amendment to historical interpretation agreement
  • Oak Ridge police chief to discuss crime, traffic safety

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2019 Oak Ridge Today