Press Release
June 15, 2010
Contact: Larry Dansinger, Maine War Tax Resource Center
(207) 525-7776 or rosc@psouth.net.
Tax Resister Sentenced to 1 Year
About 40-50 people rallied in Bangor, Maine, in support of war tax resister Frank Donnelly on June 14, 2010. Donnelly, who had pled guilty in 2009 to tax fraud, appeared in court and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. He will begin serving the sentence in late July, 2010.
Frank Donnelly is not a typical war tax resister, most of whom try to express their values of nonviolence directly to the IRS. Some send letters to the IRS, some fill out a return but do not pay, and some don't file at all.
Donnelly knew he could not pay for war, but he did that by under- reporting his income. The IRS interpreted that as tax fraud and prosecuted him in federal criminal court.
His statement to the court was simple; he declared that he should have presented his war tax resistance differently, more openly. But, he was clear his refusal to pay sprung from his opposition to all wars.
The rally included a brief statement by Donnelly to several TV and radio stations and the local daily newspaper. He then went into the court house amid shouts of support. The rally continued with comments by Patrick O'Neill, a long-time friend of Donnelly's who is a war tax resister from North Carolina, Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center coordinator Larry Dansinger, and other supporters.
See also:
Click here for Dec. 2009 article about Frank Donnelly’s case in More Than A Paycheck