Tax Resister’s Conviction for Firearms Upheld

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the conviction for illegal possession of firearms of Armen Condo, the Huntington Beach man who founded the tax-resistance group called Your Heritage Protection Assn.

The weapons were found during a 1984 search of Condo’s home by Internal Revenue Service agents who were trying to seize property to satisfy a fine related to an earlier tax fraud conviction.

Condo, 49, formed the organization in 1975 in an effort to get citizens to stop paying their income taxes in protest of federal law. The tax protester was convicted in 1982 of scheming to defraud the government.

At the time of his fraud conviction, government officials said Condo told members of his organization that they had no obligation to pay federal income taxes because U.S. paper currency is no longer backed by gold or silver.

Condo was sentenced to eight years in prison, but he remained free on bail while appealing his conviction on 41 counts of mail and tax fraud. While Condo was on bail, IRS officials penalized him $1.474 million--$1,000 for each person he allegedly aided in filling out fraudulent tax forms.

Because Condo made no effort to pay the fine, IRS agents were given a warrant to enter his home to seize property to help pay the debt. During their December, 1984, search, they discovered at least five guns and several boxes of ammunition, and Condo was arrested.

The appellate court on Wednesday affirmed Condo’s sentence for the weapons conviction-- one year and one day in federal prison, to be served concurrently with his fraud sentence.