Stars of Alaskan Bush People Plead Guilty to Fraud and Theft


Six members of the Brown family from the show, "Alaskan Bush People," supposedly filed false permanent fund dividend applications. Apparently, they didn't met all of the requirements to be eligible for the application between October 2009 and August 2012, but they submitted it anyway.  The family
 has been charged on dozens of counts of Permanent Fund dividend fraud and felony theft. Billy Brow faces 24 felony counts and is accused of illegally obtaining $13,080 in dividend cash. While five other members are all facing four counts of unsworn falsification and four counts second-degree theft.

As of November 18,  the father and one of the sons would have plead guilty to the misdemeanors under a plea agreement, but Judge Philip Pallenberg rejected the deal because he believes that they deserve jail time. Judge Pallenberg said the family stole $20,938 by lying on applications for Alaska's annual oil revenue windfall check.

Comments from Allen:

As you may know, Alaska residents receive a portion of Alaska's oil revenues each year in the form of a $1,884 check from the state. For some, this is reason enough to live in Alaska. In order to receive the check, the requirements are minimal. The applicant must certify:

1. He was a resident of Alaska for the preceding calendar year and claimed no residency in any other state or country during that time and received no benefits as a resident of another state during that year;

2. He did not spend time behind bars as a felon or as a repeat misdemeanor offender the preceding year;

3. He was not absent from Alaska for 180 days of that year unless his absence was "allowed;"

4. He spent at least 72 hours of time, consecutively, without leaving Alaska.

These requirements are very easy to meet. However, Billy Brown and Josh Brown have admitted they did not have an Alaska residence between 2009 and 2012.

This appears to be a "damage control" case in which the facts are clear and the defendants violated the law and will have to repay Alaska the money they received in oil revenue windfall checks. There is every reason for the defense to seek a plea bargain to avoid the consequences of convictions for multiple felonies, fines, costs and prison. On occasion, the defense reaches a deal on behalf of a defendant which is too favorable to satisfy the demands of justice. That happened here. The judge then let the defendants know they could withdraw their respective "guilty" pleas because they were not going to get the benefit of the key provision of the deal: no time behind bars.

When that occurs, the judge generally sets another hearing date and gives the prosecution and the defense a little time to come up with a more reasonable deal, in this case, a deal involving some jail time. I am confident the parties will come up with a new deal in which the defendants will plead "guilty," notwithstanding the judge will order a little, or a lot, of time behind bars. The negotiation here will focus on just how much time the parties settle upon, and upon whether prison is an option or merely local jail time or a prison diversion-type program.

Don't expect a trial here. There will be a new plea agreement, one the judge can live with.

***********************************************************************************************************************

Allen Browning is an attorney in Idaho Falls, Idaho who handles personal injury and criminal defense. He has over 30 years of experience and handled thousands of cases. Allen handles cases from all over Idaho. Call (208) 542-2700 to set up a free consultation if you are facing legal trouble or you have been involved in an accident.

Also, check out browninglaw.net for more information about Allen and Browning Law.

Allen Browning can help with all personal injury claims including motor vehicle accidents,truck accidents, auto accidents, serious and disabling accidents, and wrongful death claims.

Allen Browning is an Idaho Falls attorney who can also help with drunk driving (DUI), traffic violations, Felony, Misdemeanor, Domestic Violence, Drug Crimes, Theft, Juvenile Crimes, battery and assault charges, Violent Crimes, and Probation/Parole Violations. He is one of the most experienced and successful criminal defense attorneys in Idaho.
Allen is able to provide his services if the incident occurs in the following Idaho Areas: American Falls, Arco, Blackfoot, Boise, Burley, Driggs, Idaho Falls, Malad City, Pocatello, Rexburg, Rigby, Salmon, St. Anthony, Twin Falls, Bannock County, Bingham County, Bonneville County, Butte County, Cassia County, Clark County, Fremont County, Jefferson County, Lemhi County, Madison County, Oneida County, Power County, Teton County, and Twin Falls County.    
Sources for more information:

 http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/alaskan-bush-people-stars-admit-to-lying-on-permanent-fund-dividend-applications/36533258

http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/stars-of-alaskan-bush-people-reality-show-charged-with-felony-dividend-fraud-theft/29285166

https://pfd.alaska.gov/Eligibility/Requirements

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Things Lawyers Can't Tell Jurors

Image
 It is a trial lawyer's job to educate jurors, and tell them what they need to know in order to decide cases. Despite this, there are many things, true things, that lawyers are not allowed to tell jurors directly in statements to the jury or indirectly through testimony of their witnesses. Lawyers know these things, though, and I thought you might like to know some of things. #1. A lawyer can't tell the jurors anything that happened during settlement negotiations. He cannot let the jurors know, when asking them to make the defendant pay his client $100,000 that the defendant agreed to pay him $80,000 prior to the trial. The reason for this is that you want settlement negotiations to be very open. You don't want to damage a negotiation session because someone is afraid that what they say will get repeated to a jury if you don't strike a deal. #2 In Idaho, a lawyer can't tell the jurors that the defendant has insurance. In many other states, he can. Bec
Read more

Man Framed by Prosecutor Released After 29 Years in Prison Seeking Lawsuit

Image
19 year old, Charise Kamps, was found raped and strangled to death in her apartment in June 1980. Ralph Armstrong told the police that both of them were at the apartment alone doing cocaine before leaving to go see friends around 9:30 pm. Police said that they learned that Armstrong owed Kamp's boyfriend $400 and witnesses saw Armstrong handing Kamps money that night. However, the money was not found in the apartment, and Armstrong deposited $315 in his bank the next day.The defense argued that he got the money from his brother. One of the neighbors saw a lean, muscular man about 5 feet 5 inches tall with long, dark hair drive up to the apartment. Before the identification process, the police had the witness hypnotized. He was shown a photograph of Armstrong, and After being hypnotized, the witness changed the height of the man he saw. Later at a lineup to have the witness select the man he saw, he chose Armstrong. The other people in the lineup were police officers in wigs
Read more

Tuesday Tip: Reid Interrogation Technique

Image
Various methods have been used in police interrogations to elicit a confession. By far the most popular method used for over seventy years is the Reid Technique. This interrogation method assumes guilty suspects can be identified from certain behavioral cues. It is said to be proven as highly effective at getting confessions; however, there has been criticism about it for many years because it has been linked to many wrongful convictions.  Around 25 percent of post conviction DNA exonerations have been associated with a false confession from authorities using the Reid Technique. Even one of the first cases in which John Reid used this technique turned out to be a false confession. More and more scientists and scholars are saying this approach is based on outdated psychology. There are several components incorporated in this technique, including room design and how the investigator conducts the interview. There are three spatial zones the investigators use, which can be seen in
Read more