Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud In Connection With Sovereign Citizen Lien Scheme; Sentenced To 30 Months In Federal Prison

SALT LAKE CITY – Robert Clifton Tanner, age 45, of Mansura, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to mail fraud Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in connection with a scheme to use the mail to assert false claims of indebtedness totalling billions of dollars against judges and others. U.S. District Judge David Sam imposed a 30-month sentence following the guilty plea.

Tanner and Maria Melody Fuentes Cecil Mobo, age 42, of Spanish Fork, Utah, were indicted in August on four counts of mail fraud. The charges alleged they filed or attempted to file liens and claims against judges, attorneys, and others in Utah by mailing documents and filing fictitious judgments and liens that were intended to create an appearance of indebtedness for the judges, attorneys, and others.

As a part of his plea agreement, Tanner admitted that on April 23, 2012, he used the U.S. Postal Service to send a fraudulent document to Utah County as a part of his fraud scheme. The indictment identified the title of the document as a “Petition for Agreement and Harmony in the Nature of a Notice of International Commercial Claim Administrative Remedy.” He admitted that the mailed documents were designed to support false and fraudulent claims which were filed with the Utah County Clerk’s Office.

Federal prosecutors said other state and federal jurisdictions in Louisiana and Utah had agreed to forego additional charges against Tanner as a part of the plea agreement and 30-month sentence.

Mobo faces a Feb. 25, 2013, trial date on four counts of mail fraud.