She also cited their supposed citizenship of the “Kingdom of Heaven” in an attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in income tax refunds, authorities said.
Their claims match arguments cited by members of the Embassy of Heaven sovereign citizens group, which issues passports, driver’s licenses, and license plates by claiming to be a religious organization that cannot be regulated.
The group is led by Craig Douglas Fleshman, a former Oregon state computer systems analyst who goes by the name “Pastor Paul Revere,” and claims that its followers are not subject to government jurisdiction because their allegiance rests with Jesus Christ.
“They are subjects of Christ, not any worldly government,” explained Carl Watner in a 1994 post on the Voluntaryist website. “The church’s position is that you are the final authority on where you reside and where you put your allegiance. No state can decide this for you, unless you let them.”
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Glen Stoll, a self-described attorney associated with the Embassy of Heaven, represented “Dr. Dino” Kent Hovind in the creationist theme park owner’s tax evasion scheme.
The U.S. Justice Department later sued Stoll and another Embassy of Heaven member, Michael Stevens, to stop them from teaching paid customers how to evade taxes.
Sovereign citizens claim IRS can’t tax them as residents of ‘Kingdom of Heaven’
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