Officials use large force to search lot, make arrests

Thursday, March 15, 2007 12:39 PM CDT

RIO, Wis. (AP) - Law enforcement agents swarmed over a rural homestead Wednesday after a couple accused of failing to pay property taxes was charged with filing false liens for up to $2.1 million against local officials and the bankers who foreclosed on their home.

Lester Sundsmo, 64, and his wife, Lilac, 56, were taken into custody during a traffic stop just east of the residence, sheriff's officials said. They were being held without bond.

A large force was used to make the arrests and search the property because of concerns that others might be there, and also that there could be firearms at the home, Chief Deputy Michael Babcock of the Columbia County Sheriff's Department told the Portage Daily Register. No other arrests or illegal firearms were reported.

The Sundsmos were charged in Circuit Court Wednesday with five felony counts each of criminal slander of title alleging that they filed the liens. A lien allows the holder to collect a debt when the property is sold.

Records showed the couple had sent back an eviction notice and claimed in a failed lawsuit that they were only caretakers and the property was owned by Heavenly Mission Church.

ADVERTISEMENT

A sign outside the home that was signed “Heavenly Mission” warned federal agents not to trespass.

According to the sheriff's department, the action stemmed from a three-year investigation into the filing of false liens, as well as a civil action filed against the Sundsmos for failing to pay property taxes.

Agents don't believe the Sundsmos have any link to the anti-government group the Posse Comitatus, as some media reports suggested, Babcock said. The posse is a loosely knit group that opposes government interference with individual rights.

“We understood that their personal beliefs are not consistent with our current government,” Babcock said. “They certainly question the legality and constitutionality of our Legislature and government processes.”

Lorri Frisch, a daughter of the Sundsmos, said her parents support common-law beliefs but aren't connected to the Posse Comitatus. She said her father has filed a lot of paperwork while fighting the foreclosure, which he thought was still pending because of an appeal he filed.

Crime scene tape stretched around the wooded property along Highway 16 about 30 miles northeast of Madison. County SWAT team members and other investigators milled about a log cabin, barn and other dilapidated buildings. A cross decorated with Christmas lights leaned on the ground in front of the cabin.

The Sundsmos filed liens between 2003 and 2006 against employees of a bank that foreclosed on their property, a former sheriff, a district attorney who prosecuted Lilac Sundsmo in two cases and the judge who heard those cases, according to the criminal complaint released by state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's office. The actions falsely claimed the couple was owed from $300,000 to $2.1 million, the complaint said.

Court records show that on Jan. 16, the Sundsmos were served with an eviction notice which was returned and marked “refusal for cause, without dishonor and without (recourse) to me.”

In February, the Sundsmos filed a federal lawsuit attempting to stop Columbia County from foreclosing.

According to an order issued Feb. 13 by U.S. District Judge John Shabaz, the Sundsmos claimed the property is owned by Heavenly Mission Church and that they are just the caretakers. Shabaz dismissed the claim, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

Michelle Neuman, who lives about a mile and a half away from the property, said she and her husband once had Lester Sundsmo level gravel in their driveway.

“He did it for nothing,” she said. Sundsmo “came and helped us when we needed help.”

As for the arrests, she said, “you don't know. Things get blown out of proportion.”

JoAnn Watkins, another neighbor, said she has known the Sundsmos for 20 years, and Lester Sundsmos often has helped with repair jobs, once laying a patio and asking only for the cost of materials in return.

“He was always nice and polite to me,” she said.

When she first moved in, Lester came over and told her he had guns and “didn't pay taxes and was proud of it,” she said.

Sundsmo's sister, Linda Wencka of Wisconsin Dells, said she does not associate with her brother and preferred not to say why.

Law enforcement agencies spent most of the day securing the residence, resulting in closure of Highway 16 from Wyocena to Rio. A number of agencies were involved, including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the FBI.