An Austin “sovereign citizen,” known as Randy “Due Process” Kelton on his “Rule of Law” radio show, was sentenced to one year in prison for impersonating an investigations company officer without a license, in order to give evidence to a grand jury.
Kelton, who represented himself, was convicted by a jury and slapped with a $4000 fine last week, related to an incident in April 2009.
According to KIII TV, Cherokee County Attorney Craig Caldwell said in the trial that Kelton told East Texas Police Chief Joe Evans that he wanted to give evidence before a grand jury on behalf of someone he knew, Robert Fox, whose rights he believed the courts were violating. He gave Evans a business card identifying Kelton as an investigator, but there was no license number on the card.
From KIII TV:
Caldwell said once he became aware there was no number on Kelton’s card, he began to investigate to see what regulations there were about an investigations company.
He said he later learned that the activity of gathering evidence to be presented to the grand jury, an arm of the Second Judicial District Court, is described as activity of an investigations company, and in order to conduct the activity, a person must have a license.
Kelton contended that he was simply acting as a journalist, and “has reason to believe crimes have been committed” and that “nothing in law restricts (him) from talking to the grand jury foreman when he is sitting on the toilet, eating breakfast, or doing anything else other than sitting in a grand jury hearing in quorum.”
Evans also testified in the trial that Kelton “admitted more than three times that he was a member of the Sovereign Citizen movement which is classified as an ‘extremist, anti-government group’ by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
“We don’t think that he is actually dangerous,” Evans added, “but that he can influence someone to be a danger to society, especially through his talk show.”
TPM has been following the soviereign citizen movement, which rejects most forms of government in the U.S., and often gets into confrontations with law enforcement officials and court officials.
The Cherokeean Herald reports that “between proceedings, Mr. Kelton paced up and down the courthouse hallway wearing a microphone as he conducted his live talk show on the trial dates.”
Kelton has a show called “The Rule Of Law” on Rule of Law Radio with co-hosts Deborah “Grand Jury” Stevens and Eddie “Traffic Code” Craig. Rule of Law Radio purports to be dedicated to “reclaiming our freedom with Scripture, truth, law, fundamental principles, & comedy!”
The bio section describes Kelton thusly: “Many have wondered, by what authority does Randy Kelton demand that public officials stand and answer for their bad behavior. Well the fact is he is an average American, who is no judge, prosecutor, police officer or public official of any kind. He isn’t even a lawyer! He is a singular sovereign citizen in this free country and that is more than enough!”
Rule of Law radio is trying to raise $30,000 to cover Kelton’s legal fees, and said of the conviction: “The charges are bogus, there was no evidence, and the court never had jurisdiction. It was an obvious railroad job in retaliation due to the criminal complaints Randy tried to file against public servants in that county.”
So far they’ve raised $1,540.
