'Sovereign citizen' gets 10 years for bogus liens on federal judge and prosecutor
A Texas man upset about his 2010 conviction and five-year federal prison term in a human smuggling and money laundering conspiracy case made a court filing or two soon after his release last year.
That resulted in a new 10-year federal prison term for Tyrone Eugene Jordan on Friday, following the 45-year-old’s jury conviction in July on charges of retaliating against a federal officer or employee by false claim, according to Courthouse News and a FBI news release.
Federal authorities call Tyrone Eugene Jordan a sovereign citizen. They say he filed a total of $6.5 million in bogus liens against the judge and prosecutor in his earlier Corpus Christi case, harassing them for simply having done their jobs. His lawyer calls Jordan a “helpless sap” who never threatened anyone and wrote “nonsensical letters” in a misguided attempt to address what he felt was an unfair 2010 conviction, the Houston Chronicle (sub. req.) reports.
Jordan has never said he is a sovereign citizen or a member of any anti-government group, attorney Richard Kuniansky tells the newspaper.
“He was sentenced as if he had committed some heinous crime,” Kuniansky said. “The true moral is: You don’t mess with federal judges and federal prosecutors. If you do, it’s not going to be a pretty sight at the end of the day.”
Courthouse News says the targets of Jordan’s court filing abuses were senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head, who is now retired, and prosecutor Julie Hampton.
In an earlier story published at the time of Jordan’s conviction, the Houston Chronicle (sub. req.) said Jordan filed a “notarized laundry list” of claimed wrongdoings against the judge and prosecutor in Harris County District Court.
He accused the two of misconduct ranging from treason to slavery and listed amounts he claimed to be due as damages, the newspaper reported.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Jury convicts ‘sovereign citizen’ of filing false liens against federal judge and prosecutor”
ABA Journal: “‘Sovereign citizens’ plaster courts with bogus legal filings–and some turn to violence”
