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2 tax protesters ordered to prison
BY CAROLYN THOMPSON The Associated Press

    BUFFALO — A couple who claimed they were immune from paying income tax because they relinquished their U.S. citizenship are headed for prison — and divorce — after the wife had a change of heart about her husband’s political views.
    Before receiving an 18-month prison sentence Friday, Patricia O’Connor, 58, apologized for getting involved in setting up the sham trusts and post office boxes that allowed her to conceal her $714,000 in income from the Internal Revenue Service over more than a decade.
    “After much angst and soulsearching, I know I was wrong, very wrong,” O’Connor, a computer consultant, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara that went beyond her brief, spoken apology.
    In the letter, she said she was heavily influenced by her husband, Richard Drachenberg, whom she feared would leave her if she did not go along with his tax protests.
    She said she was divorcing him because of his “obsession” with his political theories.
    Drachenberg, 57, received more than double the prison time of his wife, 40 months, despite being convicted of fewer charges, after sticking firmly to his contention that the court has no jurisdiction over him.
    “I do not accept the verdict. I do not accept any sentence,” Drachenberg, who represented himself at his trial and sentencing, told the judge.
    The judge made both husband and wife responsible for the $216,929 due the IRS from the income O’Connor earned.
    Following a weeklong jury trial in February, the couple, from the village of Angelica in the foothills of rural Allegany County, were found guilty. O’Connor was convicted on five counts of tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Her husband was charged with and convicted only of conspiracy.
    The couple wrote letters to President George W. Bush and other government leaders in 2001 saying they were relinquishing their citizenship.
    They claimed to be “New York nationals” not subject to federal laws. ..............>>>>.................>>>>......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01702