Tax Protester Convicted on Gun Charge : 2 Members of Anti-Tax Group Guilty of Failing to File Returns

Convicted tax resister Armen Condo, former leader of an anti-income tax organization in Orange County, was found guilty of illegal possession of firearms, and two of his followers were found guilty of failing to file state income taxes in separate trials Tuesday. Condo, 44, of Huntington Beach was convicted in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Modisett.

Norbet Buss, 31, a Huntington Beach engineer, and Jerry Geinger, 36, a Westminster construction foreman, were each convicted on four counts in Orange County Municipal Court, according to David Wagner, deputy district attorney. They were each sentenced to 10 days in the County Jail and ordered to pay remaining amounts of back taxes, totaling more than $20,000.

About 3,000 Members

The convictions are the latest in a long series against members of Your Heritage Protection Assn., based in Garden Grove. The organization’s members, who number about 3,000, believe income taxes do not have to be paid because U.S. paper currency is no longer backed by gold or silver.

“It’s an organization that’s been going strong for the past four years,” said Jeanne Lahey, an investigator with the state Franchise Tax Board. “Now they’re starting to peter out. The IRS is just shutting them down.”

Modisett said Condo’s firearms conviction stems from a search last November, when IRS agents discovered seven handguns--six of them loaded--and a shotgun in his Huntington Beach home. Condo, a convicted felon, is forbidden from possessing firearms.

IRS agents searched the home for the purpose of seizing real property, Modisett said, because Condo owes the IRS nearly $1.5 million in tax penalties and $92,000 in back taxes. Condo was convicted of mail and tax fraud in 1982 and sentenced to eight years in prison. He began serving that sentence at Terminal Island in February.

Case Easily Won

In court Tuesday, Condo contended that he didn’t think he was guilty because his 1982 conviction was still being appealed, Modisett said. He also contended that since the guns were in a safe when discovered by IRS agents, he didn’t technically possess them, the U.S. attorney said.

But Modisett said the case against Condo was easily won. “It was a status case,” Modisett said. “All we had to prove was that he was a felon and that he possessed guns. If we did that, he was guilty.”

U.S. District Judge Richard Gadbois will sentence Condo on May 14. He faces an additional two years’ imprisonment and $10,000 in fines for the weapons violations.

Failed to File

The four counts each against Buss and Geinger are based on their failure to file personal state income tax forms during the years 1980 to 1983, said Wagner, the prosecuting attorney. Buss failed to report nearly $195,000 in income, while Geinger failed to report more than $142,000, he said.

Lahey said the prosecution of Buss and Geinger was the latest in ongoing efforts by the Franchise Tax Board to step up enforcement against delinquent taxpayers. In March, six Southern California residents were convicted of failing to pay state taxes, she said.