Bernard von NotHaus, Has Been Convicted of Minting His Own Currency

STATESVILLE, NC—Bernard von NotHaus, 67, was convicted today by a federal jury of making, possessing, and selling his own coins, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Following an eight-day trial and less than two hours of deliberation, von NotHaus, the founder and monetary architect of a currency known as the Liberty Dollar, was found guilty by a jury in Statesville, North Carolina, of making coins resembling and similar to United States coins; of issuing, passing, selling, and possessing Liberty Dollar coins; of issuing and passing Liberty Dollar coins intended for use as current money; and of conspiracy against the United States. The guilty verdict concluded an investigation which began in 2005 and involved the minting of Liberty Dollar coins with a current value of approximately $7 million. Joining the U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins in making today’s announcement are Edward J. Montooth, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Charlotte Division; Russell F. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Charlotte Division; and Sheriff Van Duncan of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the evidence introduced during the trial, von NotHaus was the founder of an organization called the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve and Internal Revenue Code, commonly known as NORFED and also known as Liberty Services. Von NotHaus was the president of NORFED and the executive director of Liberty Dollar Services, Inc. until on or about September 30, 2008.

Von NotHaus designed the Liberty Dollar currency in 1998 and the Liberty coins were marked with the dollar sign ($); the words dollar, USA, Liberty, Trust in God (instead of In God We Trust); and other features associated with legitimate U.S. coinage. Since 1998, NORFED has been issuing, disseminating, and placing into circulation the Liberty Dollar in all its forms throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. NORFED’s purpose was to mix Liberty Dollars into the current money of the United States. NORFED intended for the Liberty Dollar to be used as current money in order to limit reliance on, and to compete with, United States currency.

In coordination with the Department of Justice, on September 14, 2006, the United States Mint issued a press release and warning to American citizens that the Liberty Dollar was “not legal tender.” The U.S. Mint press release and public service announcement stated that the Department of Justice had determined that the use of Liberty Dollars as circulating money was a federal crime.

Article I, section 8, clause 5 of the United States Constitution delegates to Congress the power to coin money and to regulate the value thereof. This power was delegated to Congress in order to establish and preserve a uniform standard of value and to insure a singular monetary system for all purchases and debts in the United States, public and private. Along with the power to coin money, Congress has the concurrent power to restrain the circulation of money which is not issued under its own authority in order to protect and preserve the constitutional currency for the benefit of all citizens of the nation. It is a violation of federal law for individuals, such as von NotHaus, or organizations, such as NORFED, to create private coin or currency systems to compete with the official coinage and currency of the United States.

Von NotHaus, who remains free on bond, faces a sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment on count two of the indictment and a fine of not more than $250,000. Von NotHaus faces a prison sentence of five years and fines of $250,000 on both counts one and three. In addition, the United States is seeking the forfeiture of approximately 16,000 pounds of Liberty Dollar coins and precious metals, currently valued at nearly $7 million. The forfeiture trial, which began today before United States District Court Judge Richard Voorhees, will resume on April 4, 2011 in the federal courthouse in Statesville. Judge Voorhees has not yet set a date for the sentencing of von NotHaus.

“Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism,” U.S. Attorney Tompkins said in announcing the verdict. “While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country,” she added. “We are determined to meet these threats through infiltration, disruption, and dismantling of organizations which seek to challenge the legitimacy of our democratic form of government.”

The case was investigated by the FBI, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department, and the U.S. Secret Service, in cooperation with and invaluable assistance of the United States Mint. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jill Westmoreland Rose and Craig D. Randall, and the forfeiture trial is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tom Ascik and Ben Bain Creed.

Comments

  1. I just happened to find this post after doing a search for this gentleman's name.

    I am curious why you didn't point out what a travesty and a FARCE this whole case is??

    The coins do not say Federal Reserve Note, they are not 'notes', as they are REAL SILVER. The word 'dollar' is not copyrighted, and can be used by anyone.

    If you ask the Fed to 'define' what a 'dollar' is, be prepared to watch them squirm and begin to spew double-talk, because a FED dollar is absolutely worthless!

    http://dailypaul.com/141429/bernard-von-nothaus-liberty-dollar-jailed

    Kafka would be proud of our "Justice Dept."!

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  2. "Domestic terrorism"! What rocks do these U.S. attorneys climb out from under? The Liberty Dollar never harmed anyone except the private bankers. Apparently throwing around terms like "terrorism" is like drinking water for federal bureaucrats.

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  3. The Feds have it all wrong. It's not domestic terrorism and had this been tried before 9/11 it wouldn't have been a guilty verdict. Wake up people! Disney Dollars, Ithaca, and all other private value money is at risk too.

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  4. It looks like barter and abuse of power.

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  5. Bernard was ignored by the feds...until he put Ron Paul's face on his gold coins during the presidential election, while Dr Paul was winning GOP primary elections in several states.

    The Federal Govt is an insane criminal psychopathic serial-killing mass-murderer that perped the 9/11 terror attacks, as confessed in Operation Northwoods (includes its JFK coup d'etat), and many other false flags.

    The kosher private "Federal" Reserve Bank is an illegal legal fiction that counterfeits all so-called "US dollar bills" ("Federal" Reserve Debt Notes, keeps all federal income taxes to pay interest on the $15-trillion federal govt debt, and pretends it has a copyright on the word "god".

    I look forward to BVN winning his appeal.

    "The Federal Reserve is no more 'federal' than Federal Express!"
    -Congressman Dennis Kucinich
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pVV4n2lKHk

    "Plaintiff, who was injured by vehicle owned and operated by a federal reserve bank, brought action alleging jurisdiction under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The United States District Court for the Central District of California, David W. Williams, J., dismissed holding that federal reserve bank was not a federal agency within meaning of Act and that the court therefore lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Appeal was taken. The Court of Appeals, Poole, Circuit Judge, held that federal reserve banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of the Act, but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations." - United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, No. 80-5905, Lewis v. United States, 680 F.2d 1239 (1982)
    http://www.save-a-patriot.org/files/view/frcourt.html

    "There is no authority for a central bank. Ben Bernanke is the greatest counterfeiter the world has ever seen! Adolf Hitler was Time's Man of the Year too."
    -Congressman Ron Paul MD
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRZ-B14PEsc

    "Not one dime of income taxes goes to support any federal program."
    -President Ronald Reagan, right before George Bushes' CIA cousin John Hinkley Jr shot him (released from loonybin by George Bush Jr and Dictator Hussein Obama Soetoro)

    "Shit's gettin way too complicated for me. There are white folks, and then there are ignorant mutherfuckers like you! You can put lipstick on a pig. Sorry ass mutherfucker's got nuttin on me. I inhaled frequently - that was the point. Pot helped, and booze. A little blow when you could afford it. Junkie, pothead. That's where I'd been headed. You ain't my bitch nigger, git your own damn fries!"
    -Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro, Dreams From My Father, MP3:
    http://www.archive.org/details/ObamaInauguralMashup/

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