U.S. v. Weatherley

Full title: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Charles A. WEATHERLEY, et al.…

Court: United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania

Date published: Aug 15, 1998

12 F. Supp. 2d 469 (E.D. Pa. 1998)

Opinion

No. Civ. A. 97-3003.

August 15, 1998.

Angelo A. Frattarelli, U.S. Department of Justice, Trial Attorneys, Tax Division, Washington, DC, Carol P. Lenhart, U.S. Dept. of Justice — Tax Division, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Charles A. Weatherley, Springfield, PA, James J. Byrne, Jr., Curran, Winning Fioravanti, P.C., Media, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KATZ, District Judge.

This is an action to enforce tax liens of $766,301.48 against Mr. Weatherly and a corporation owning his home.

Mr. Weatherly paid for the property, has resided there since 1979 and maintains the water and electric services in his name.

Mr. Weatherly does not file tax returns.¹ The liens at issue go back to 1976 to 1983. He says, ". . . I have no business with the Federal government and the IRS, and they have none with me." See Order of July 20, 1998 filing communications. He claims, "(y)ou lack jurisdiction as your authority does not go beyond the District of Columbia. Your orders do not apply to me." See Order of July 6, 1998 filing communication.

1 Mr. Weatherly's positions, rejected by the courts, are (1) he is an alien within the United States since he resides in one of the states which are "sovereign entities;" (2) wages are not income, just an equal exchange ( i.e., barters) for labor; (3) IRS may tax only federal government employees; (4) he cannot be taxed because he has not filed any returns. See In re Charles A. Weatherley, 169 B.R. 555 (1994).

Mr. Weatherly filed a bankruptcy petition which the Bankruptcy Court dismissed with prejudice. See Status Report filed June 15, 1998. This court the lifted the stay of these proceedings entered October 14, 1997.

The government is entitled to reduce its tax liens to judgment against both defendants and to issue execution on the real estate at issue. The defendant corporation holds the property as the straw party for Mr. Weatherly, who is its true owner.

Since the government claims that Mr. Weatherly ". . . has been known to threaten Internal Revenue Service employees," a copy of this Memorandum shall be forwarded by the Clerk to the United States Marshal.² An appropriate Order follows.

2 See the attached communication from Mr. Weatherly to the court. The court does not want anybody to be injured in the enforcement of this judgment, certainly not Mr. Weatherly, who has deeply felt views, which are simply contrary to the present state of the law.

ORDER

AND NOW, this 15th day of August, 1998, upon consideration of the government's Motion for Summary Judgment, it is hereby ORDERED that said motion is GRANTED. The claim against Springfield Township is DISMISSED without prejudice.

APPENDIX STATUS REPORT

The United States of America, by and through its undersigned attorney, hereby submits this Status Report in accordance with the Court's Order of May 22, 1998. That Order requires the parties to advise the Court of their respective positions no later than June 22, 1998. In response to the Order, defendant Charles A. Weatherly submitted a hand-written letter dated June 8, 1998 to United States District Judge Marvin Katz, wherein Mr. Weatherly sets forth his position with respect to this litigation. A copy of that letter is attached hereto so as to comply with the Court's request for a joint submission.

At present, this case is stayed pursuant to the Court's Order of October 14, 1998. That Order was entered after defendant Charles A. Weatherly filed a petition under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Bankruptcy Court dismissed that case (Bankruptcy No. 97-31599), with prejudice, pursuant to an Order entered on April 15, 1998. As a result of that dismissal, the United States filed a Motion to Lift Stay in this case on or about June 9, 1998. That motion is pending.

It is the position of the United States that defendant Charles A. Weatherly owes the United States approximately $1,000,000.00 on account of federal income tax liabilities for the years 1976 through 1983.^1a The United States further asserts that it is entitled to foreclose the federal tax liens that arose as a result of those liabilities against the real property located at 606 W. Woodland Avenue in Springfield, Pennsylvania. The United States intends to file a dispositive motion addressing these issues once the stay in this case is lifted.

1a The Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has already determined that these liabilities were properly assessed against defendant. In re Weatherley, 169 B.R. 555 (Bankr.E.D.Pa. 1994).

Date: June 12, 1998

Respectfully submitted, Michael M. Baylson United States Attorney By: Angelo A. Frattarelli Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice

Frattarelli 6/14 Honarable Judge Marvin Katy: 6/8/98 Room 13613 U.S. Courthouse RE:97-3003 Phila, Penna. 19106

Dear Sir:

I want to point out some errors in your letter which was supposedly addressed to me.

Number one is that I am not the individual as the name is spelled out in all capitals My Christian name is CharlesAugustus: Weatherly. Only three letters are authorized to be in capitals.

Number two it says "United States of America". This seems to be a serious error because you have nothing to do with the "United States of America as you are just the "United States."

I do not understand why the "United States" is trying to interfere with any life. Where is your authority to do this? Please supply me with the statute(s) and the implementing regulations that you think gives you authority to molest me.

I am an American, a citizen of the United States of America and of the Pennsylvania State Republic and I have no business with the United States and you have none with me,

You call me a "Defendant." What is the charge against me? Of course there is none as I have broken no law, I have committed no crime, in fact I have done nothing wrong.

I have requested documents supporting your claim against me and evidence, but as yet I have received none. Without any proof it is impossible for you to prove I owe even one dime to the IRS and you therefore cannot proceed further.

Please dismiss this case with prejudice.

You have no authority or jurisdiction at all and therefore I will not respond and I will not ve a party to this unconstitutional, illegal, and criminal action.

Sincerely Charles Augustus; Westherley

Copy to Angels Frotarelli, trial attorney Dep't. of Justice Wash. D.C. 20044