PORTLAND, Maine — Two Brunswick men in their 70s were convicted Friday in U.S. District Court of conspiring to cover up a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
David E. Robinson, 78, who claims to be the “interim attorney general” of the “Maine Republic Free State,” faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the Internal Revenue Services, according to a media release from the U.S. Attorneys Office. F. William Messier, 70, was convicted of that charge and of corruptly endeavoring to impede the IRS and faces up to eight years in prison and fines totaling $500,000.
The men will be sentenced after the U.S. Probation Office completes investigation reports, according to the media release.
Messier, who built several communication towers at his Brunswick home, leases space on those towers to cellphone companies, municipal governments, radio stations and other companies and collects rent from them. U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II said in August that Messier’s Oak Hill Communications business earned more than $390,000 in gross income from renting antenna space on his radio communication towers.
“From 1999 through 2014, Messier engaged in conduct intended to obstruct the enforcement of the Revenue laws, including providing false tax documents to customers, obstructing IRS collection activities and the extensive use of cash,” the release from the U.S. attorney’s office stated.
Delahanty said last summer that Robinson worked with Messier to thwart the IRS investigation. The duo were indicted in August on the tax fraud charges by a federal grand jury. At that time, Delahanty said Messier had not filed a federal income tax return for many years.
However, Messier was acquitted Friday of willful failure to file income tax returns for 2008 through 2012.
According to a brief filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney James W. Chapman, who helped to prosecute the case, Messier had “joined forces with David E. Robinson … who was active with various anti-tax and sovereign citizen groups,” and together the men urged Messier’s customers to stop notifying the IRS that they had paid him rent, told the customers Messier was tax exempt and encouraged them to ignore notices of levy sent by the IRS.
However, Messier’s Houston-based attorney, Michael Louis Minns, argued in court documents that his client suffers from “chronic delusional disorder,” among other conditions, and did not file the tax returns because he does not believe he was required to do so.