Member of ‘Freemen’ Enters Guilty Plea

A member of the Montana “freemen” group that was involved in an 81-day standoff with federal agents last year has pleaded guilty to bank fraud and agreed to tell the FBI about the group’s activities, federal prosecutors said. Lavon Hanson entered the guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Billings, Mont. He admitted he had submitted a fraudulent “certified money order” in the amount of $428,000 to the Farm Credit Bank of Spokane, Wash. He could face up to two years in prison when sentenced Oct. 3. Hanson was arrested March 25, 1996, in a sting that also captured “freeman” leaders LeRoy Schweitzer and Daniel Petersen. Their arrests set off the standoff. He was the first to plead guilty of 24 “freemen” and supporters who have been charged with various offenses.