Fullerton Chiropractor, Wife Indicted on Income Tax Counts

A Fullerton chiropractor and his wife were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges that they failed to file income tax returns between 1978 and 1981 even though they earned $262,016 during those four tax years.

U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner said the indictment of Dr. Marcel R. Methot, 51, and his 48-year-old wife, Theresa, was “part of a continuing effort on the part of the government to curb the tax-protest movement.”

The Methots could not be reached for comment about the charges.

Tuesday’s indictment is not the first action taken by the Internal Revenue Service against the Orange County chiropractor. In 1976, he was fined $10,000 and placed on three years’ probation when he reported only silver coins on his 1970 and 1971 tax returns. A federal judge ruled that such returns are not legally valid and found Methot guilty of failure to file a proper return.

Methot had argued in the earlier case that, according to the U.S. Constitution, only gold and silver are legal tender in payment of debts. His tax returns for those years listed in excess of $600 in silver coins as his reportable income.

According to Tuesday’s indictment, the Methots’ joint income from the chiropractic practice at 1136 Orangethorpe Ave. was $43,085 in 1978, $59,903 in 1979, $77,501 in 1980 and $81,525 in 1981.

The Methots “knowingly and willfully” failed to file tax returns reflecting that income, the indictment charges.

Assistant U.S. Atty. James Asperger, who will prosecute the case for the government, said if the Methots are convicted on the four counts in the indictment, they each could be sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison and a $40,000 fine.