Washington State Tax Defier Indicted in Spokane
for Filing False Liens Against Government Officials

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in Spokane, Wash., has returned an indictment charging Ronald James Davenport of Deer Park, Wash., with filing fraudulent multi-billion-dollar liens against four government officials, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to court filings, the federal government brought a civil suit against Davenport in 2008 to collect delinquent income taxes. The indictment alleges that in retaliation for attempting to collect the delinquent taxes, Davenport made a series of fraudulent claims in December 2009 against, among others, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, the clerk of court for the federal district court and a collection officer for the IRS. Davenport filed liens against the property of these government officials, falsely claiming that each of them owed Davenport $5,184,000,000.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Davenport faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.

The case is being investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorney Brian Bailey.