Albany -- A 48-year-old Highland man will serve six months in prison for participating in a scheme to intimidate public officials working for Ulster County and the Town of Lloyd.
Jeffrey Burfeindt apologized Tuesday in federal court for filing $736 billion in fraudulent liens against town police officers, government workers and a county prosecutor. Burfeindt said he was foolishly led into an anti-government movement by men whom he trusted.
"I never wanted to be associated with pain, conflict or ill will," Burfeindt told a federal judge in Albany. "I'm sorry for the actions I took against people in the county where I've lived practically my whole life."
Renounced sovereign citizens
Burfeindt was involved in a local sect of the sovereign citizen movement, whose members don't believe in the government or its authority to enforce laws. Burfeindt has since renounced the sovereign citizens. His lawyer said he met with the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force to assist their sovereign investigations.
He pleaded guilty in January to mail fraud. The felony stems from his use of the postal service to send bogus liens.
The strange saga began when Burfeindt and a co-conspirator, Ed Parenteau, were caught trespassing at a foreclosed Highland home in 2009. They were arrested and charged with trespassing.
Soon after, both men sent fake bills to government officials, claiming they were owed money for unjust treatment. Those bogus bills were followed by actual Uniform Commercial Code liens filed against the government workers, totaling $1.2 trillion. Authorities have called the tactic "paper terrorism." Burfeindt has since terminated the liens.
The Burfeindt family home on Pancake Hollow Road also played a role in the harassment scheme. A dozen sovereign citizens convened their own kangaroo court in 2010 and issued fake indictments that summoned government officials to the Burfeindts' home.
Lawyer asked for mercy
Defense lawyer James Winslow called the entire plot "outrageously stupid." He said Burfeindt was dragged into the sovereign movement by Parenteau, who gave him templates to create bogus documents and assured him the tactic was a good way to harass overbearing government officials. Parenteau was sentenced in May to 21 months in prison.
Winslow asked the federal judge to keep Burfeindt out of prison. He cited Burfeindt's clean criminal record, 17 letters of support from community members, and the fact that Burfeindt is the primary caretaker for his ill mother.
But U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy, who could have put Burfeindt behind bars for as long as 18 months, said the sentence had to serve as a warning to other sovereign citizens who would hatch their own schemes.
"I really think you learned your lesson," the judge told Burfeindt. "But you certainly exhibited your ability to emotionally damage people."
Burfeindt must turn himself in Sept. 27, and pay $8,079 to Ulster County for legal bills.
