Self-Declared ‘Freeman’ Accepts Public Attorney

VENTURA — After years of declaring himself a “freeman” with no ties or responsibility to federal, state and local governments, Timothy Paul Kootenay accepted one of the government’s free attorneys Wednesday as prosecutors added two more felony forgery charges to the six he already faces.

Kootenay, 35, was arrested in Montana on Easter Sunday and extradited to Ventura County, where he has remained in jail and, until Wednesday, refused the offer of a public defender. “He may have been misguided in his belief of our legal system,” said defense attorney Neil B. Quinn, just appointed to the case. “Maybe he is now acceding to the learning process.”

“The ironies just abound in this case,” said Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Aveis.

The Ventura County grand jury indicted Kootenay, also known as Timothy Paul Schultz, in March on six felony charges of using fictitious money orders to buy six semi-automatic weapons via mail order. Investigators said Kootenay used money orders created by the militant anti-government group called the Family Farm Preservation.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges today. He remains jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail.

The tall, beefy tree trimmer from Thousand Oaks has spoken openly and often of his anti-government views. He claims to have no Social Security card or driver’s license and said that he does not pay taxes.

The Franchise Tax Board of California has filed a $1,377.63 lien against property owned by Kootenay in Ventura County alleging that he failed to pay state income taxes in 1988 and 1989, assessor’s records show.

Kootenay sent court officials a rambling, 21-page document last year after he was cited for riding a motorcycle without a helmet. The document, quoting everything from the Bible to the Magna Carta, spelled out his political beliefs.

In the document, he said he renounces his U.S. and California citizenship. Instead, he claims to live in the “Second Judicial District, Rancho Santa Rosa Township.”

Kootenay is part of a loose band of anti-government protesters who follow the teachings of Montana freeman LeRoy Schweitzer and Palmdale resident M. Elizabeth Broderick, who are accused of selling bogus money orders written against frivolous liens.

Both Schweitzer and Broderick are in federal custody on forgery charges.