Postscript: Appeals Over, Anti-Tax Leader Goes to Jail

It has been nearly three years since Armen B. Condo, who once described himself as “the major threat to the income-tax system,” was convicted in federal court of 41 counts of mail and tax fraud.

Condo, 48, the founder of an Orange County-based anti-tax group called Your Heritage Protection Assn., embraced the principle that U.S. paper currency issued in the form of Federal Reserve notes is not lawful money because it is no longer redeemable in gold or silver.

Advice to Members

His May, 1982, convictions stemmed from his counseling members of his organization to file tax-withholding forms stating they had no taxable income.

Condo has been appealing the convictions, but last week his time ran out. U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi ordered that Condo be taken into custody and transported to the U.S. Correctional Institution at Terminal Island to begin a sentence of eight years in prison. Condo must also pay a fine of $92,500.

The order came after the last of a series of appeals was rejected. Condo was ordered to prison when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Christine Byrd.

As the top official of Your Heritage Protection Assn., Condo lectured widely, arguing that people who were paid in Federal Reserve notes, or in checks converted to that currency, had not received real dollars and thus were not obligated to pay income tax.

During his 1982 trial, prosecutors noted that Condo seemed to have more than a passing interest in accumulating specimens of this “worthless paper.” Each association member paid monthly dues of $15.

At its peak, the association, commonly known as YHPA, claimed 14,000 dues-paying members.

$2 Million in Dues

The government presented little hard evidence at the trial that shed any light on how Condo used the $2 million in dues collected by the association during the 2 1/2 years covered in the indictment.

Condo also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of firearms. He was arrested at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles last Dec. 3 after federal agents found six handguns and a shotgun in his residence. A trial is set March 26.