Tax Protester Keeps Busy With Week’s Court Battles

Tax protester Thomas Pat Creech cracks jokes and smiles when he talks about the courtroom battles he faces this week with the Internal Revenue Service and federal judges.

Creech, of Garden Grove, has several dates in federal court this week, including a trial today on charges that he “forcibly rescued” the headquarters of Your Heritage Protection Assn. in Garden Grove, which the IRS had seized.

“I have fun doing this,” Creech said with a smile. An electrical contractor by profession, Creech brags that he has not paid a penny of state or federal tax since 1976. Creech, 43, also is known as “Maverick Minister II” of Your Heritage Church. He assumed leadership of the anti-tax group in May, 1982, after its founder, Armen Condo, was convicted on mail fraud and other charges. In March, Condo began serving an eight-year federal prison term in Arizona, according to court records.

At one time, Your Heritage Protection Assn., which provided books, material and advice on avoiding state and federal income taxes, was the largest tax protest group in the country, according to an IRS report filed with the court. In 1982, membership peaked at about 27,000, but the ranks have dwindled to about 1,500 today, Creech said.

“We are just broke and the members are broke,” Creech said, explaining why the association stopped holding weekly meetings in Southern California restaurants and hotels. “The members who are left are fighting on principle.”

Last March, Chief U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ordered Creech not to file any more lawsuits protesting U.S. tax laws. Five months later, Creech sued the IRS and the U.S. attorney’s office.

On Monday, Creech failed to appear for a hearing on whether he should be held in contempt of court for filing that suit, which could cost him up to six months in prison. Real ordered the government attorneys to serve Creech with an order to appear Dec. 2.

“It is clear to me, Creech is in contempt of court,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward Robbins Jr.

Did Appear Elsewhere

But Creech did appear elsewhere in that courthouse Monday. In the courtroom of Judge A. Wallace Tashima, Creech was asking for a dismissal of the government’s charges that on June 24 he had “rescued” the former association headquarters at 8769 Garden Grove Blvd.

The IRS had seized the one-story, stucco building on Nov. 14, 1984, and changed all the locks. The IRS later auctioned off its contents, according to court records.

On a visit to the deserted building Sunday, Creech did not deny that he removed the locks and opened up the building for a meeting on June 24. But he contended the U.S. government had no right to seize a church.

Tashima denied Creech’s motion to dismiss the charges and ordered the trial to proceed today. If convicted, Creech faces a $500 fine, or double the value of the rescued property, whichever is greater, or two years in prison, according to an IRS spokeswoman.

Creech said he plans to break into the Garden Grove Boulevard center on Nov. 14 to mark the anniversary of the first IRS seizure. “But, I may be in jail . . . ,” he said with a smile. Creech, who acts as his own attorney, said he gave up on attorneys after the association spent about $1 million in legal fees with little success in court.

“What’s really discouraging is to go into a courtroom with all the law laid out in front of you and have the judge ignore it,” Creech said in an interview Sunday, wearing a blue Western-style shirt and worn leather boots. On Monday, wearing a three-piece gray suit, the lanky, bearded Creech presented oral arguments to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal against the $1.4-million fine imposed by the IRS--$1,000 for each of what the agency described as 1,474 “frivolous documents” Creech had filed.

Creech and his wife, Genie, 45, who live in Garden Grove, dispute the notion that tax protesters have more money to spend than people who pay their taxes. The couple said they live solely on contributions from people who support their cause.

“This is a complete, personal commitment,” said Creech, who describes himself as a “Constitutionalist.” He rejects the label “right-winger.”

And, contrary to popular belief, Creech said, most tax protesters end up paying the same taxes as everyone else or more, in penalties, because it is too hard to fight the IRS.

“People live in fear,” Genie Creech said. “The IRS can devastate a family.”

She admits that a life devoted to fighting what she calls “the obscene IRS” is not easy.

“There’s been times when I wonder what we are doing, but it passes very quickly,” she said. “I’ve never thought about getting back into the system.”