O.C. Judges Warned About ‘Freemen’-Style Group

A radical anti-government group in Orange County with ties to the Montana “freemen” has attracted the attention of the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, which have issued quiet warnings to 10 local judges who appear to be targets of the group.

Law enforcement officials confirmed that a multi-agency team of investigators is looking into the activities of members of a Garden Grove-based group calling itself “Our One Supreme Court.”

The group came to the attention of investigators after its leaders recently notified Fullerton Municipal Judge Louis Rodriguez that they planned to conduct a “common law court session” to determine whether he has the right to sit as a judge.

“They . . . advised the judge that he would be subject to whatever justice their court determines,” according to an internal memorandum prepared by the Judges Protection Unit of the Orange County Marshal’s Department.

The marshal’s office sent a confidential memo to the FBI, three other federal law enforcement agencies and the Orange County district attorney’s and sheriff’s offices. It said the Orange County group is also gathering information on nine other judges in the county.

“At this point, we have not identified a common link to any one case or issue” that would explain why the 10 judges are being singled out by the anti-government activists, the memo states.

The group appears to be one of several dozen freemen-like groups that have sprung up across the country in the last year.

It is not uncommon for these groups to conduct trials and issue their own “indictments” against judges, police officers and other public officials. But local law enforcement officials say the Orange County group appears to be more militant than some elsewhere.

“Profiles of [the Orange County] chapter’s leaders indicate that some are aggressive, have weapons and [have previously been brought up on] assault charges, and seem willing to take on the court system openly,” according to the marshal’s memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.

None of the leaders were identified in the memo, and the marshal’s office, while verifying the authenticity of its memorandum, declined to provide additional details.

The memo noted that federal investigators are warning local law enforcement officials to be prepared for “backlash activity” if federal or state authorities attempt to subdue by force the anti-government freemen who have been in a months-long standoff with FBI agents in Montana.

Using some of the same tactics as the Montana freemen, the Orange County group has also resorted to using bogus checks to pay local property taxes. About 30 of the group’s 100 Orange County members have submitted such phony checks in payment of their property taxes, officials said.

Some of the checks sent to the county tax assessor-collector’s office bore the signature of LeRoy Schweitzer, one of the prominent figures in the Montana group who was arrested in March on suspicion of bank fraud. His arrest helped trigger the standoff between the Montana freemen and federal authorities.

Mirroring another freemen practice, the Orange County group has sought to file liens in the Orange County recorder’s office against the real property of unsuspecting county residents so that they might use the bogus assets to raise money.

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It has become a routine practice for so-called common law court followers to seek liens on the property of judges and prosecutors handling cases against their members.

Investigators said the group’s members recently sought the property records of the 10 Orange County judges.

Another signature appearing on the bogus Orange County checks was that of Elizabeth Broderick, who also has been linked to the Montana freemen. Arrested in Palmdale last month, Broderick is in federal custody on mail fraud charges. Authorities said she organized seminars at which she promoted the use of homemade checks, supposedly backed by liens against government officials.

Orange County investigators have provided county Recorder Gary Granville’s office with a list of about 90 reputed members of Our One Supreme Court, asking that his staff be instructed to be on the lookout for improper liens placed against other people’s property.

Granville said he was cooperating with authorities, noting that some staff members were verbally abused when they refused to accept the improper liens.

“These filings are of concern to me, but we have instructed our staff not to endanger themselves should a situation becomes testy,” he said.

Local authorities have been tight-lipped about the Orange County investigation. Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Maury L. Evans would only say: “Our position . . . is to monitor this organization with the help of other law enforcement agencies. It’s definitely an organization we are interested in.”

Law enforcement sources said investigators have not determined why the group singled out Judge Rodriguez.

The memo, which also names the nine other local judges, suggests that local prosecutors and La Habra police officers have also been targeted by the radical anti-government group. The judges are William P. Hopkins, Martin Hairabedian, Roger B. Robbins, John W. McOwen, Claude E. Whitney, Gregory H. Lewis, Charles Margines, James Woolley, and court Commissioner Thomas Schulte. Rodriguez declined to discuss the matter, referring a reporter to Fullerton Municipal Court Administrator William Brennan, who described the matter as “a sensitive issue that has caused a general level of concern in the community of judges.”

Local judges have observed an increase in the number of cases involving members of anti-government groups who relinquish their U.S. citizenship, tossing away their driver’s licenses, insurance, passports and Social Security cards.

Times staff writer Rene Lynch contributed to this story.