Four central figures of the Montana Freemen — leader LeRoy Schweitzer, Dale Jacobi, Daniel E. Petersen Jr. and Russell D. Landers — were found guilty in July of the main charges in a federal conspiracy and bank fraud case.
But the jury deadlocked on many of the charges against a dozen Freemen, leading to a mistrial on 63 counts of the 126 total charges. Only one defendant, Landers, was convicted of all the charges brought against him.
Prosecutors had called the conspiracy a "fraud of epic proportions," involving 3,432 checks totaling $15.5 billion. Of that amount, they said there were actual losses of $1.8 billion. The conspiracy of the Freemen, who subscribe to white supremacist "common-law" ideology, allegedly dated to 1993 and only ended after an 81-day armed standoff with federal authorities in 1996.
Before this summer's trial, three other Freemen had pleaded guilty to various crimes rather than face a jury. Prosecutors now say they plan to retry all 11 Freemen who were not convicted of all counts on at least some of the charges.
Four central figures of the Montana Freemen — leader LeRoy Schweitzer, Dale Jacobi, Daniel E. Petersen Jr. and Russell D. Landers — were found guilty in July of the main charges in a federal conspiracy and bank fraud case.
But the jury deadlocked on many of the charges against a dozen Freemen, leading to a mistrial on 63 counts of the 126 total charges. Only one defendant, Landers, was convicted of all the charges brought against him.
Prosecutors had called the conspiracy a "fraud of epic proportions," involving 3,432 checks totaling $15.5 billion. Of that amount, they said there were actual losses of $1.8 billion. The conspiracy of the Freemen, who subscribe to white supremacist "common-law" ideology, allegedly dated to 1993 and only ended after an 81-day armed standoff with federal authorities in 1996.
Before this summer's trial, three other Freemen had pleaded guilty to various crimes rather than face a jury. Prosecutors now say they plan to retry all 11 Freemen who were not convicted of all counts on at least some of the charges.