Woman accused of filing $100B fake liens against prosecutors, judges in revenge for brother's case
Barred from the federal courthouse in Chicago and forbidden to make filings on behalf of a brother who had pleaded guilty in a drug case, Cherron Phillips allegedly tried another tack.
Federal prosecutors say she slapped fake liens totaling $100 billion each on property owned by then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, then-Chief U.S. District Judge James Holderman and 10 others with a connection to her brother’s case, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Monday, her trial began in federal court in Chicago on charges of filing false liens. If convicted, she could get as much as 10 years on each count.
An earlier Chicago Tribune article provides additional details and a link to the indictment in Phillips’ case.
A FBI press release about the indictment says the group liened by Phillips also includes three other federal judges, another federal prosecutor, a federal court clerk and five federal agents.
A reference in one filing by Phillips to her “sovereign capacity” has been interpreted as connecting her to the sovereign citizen’s movement, according to the newspaper.
A federal judge from East St. Louis is presiding over the trial.
Related coverage:
ABA Journal: “‘Sovereign citizens’ plaster courts with bogus legal filings—and some turn to violence”
