The prison sentence for one inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary
in Marion, Illinois, just got a lot
longer. Kurt F. Johnson, 56, who was due to be released in
2028, was sentenced earlier today to
serve an additional 216 months behind bars for filing
fictitious, involuntary bankruptcy petitions
against federal prison officials. Johnson was convicted of
the charges after a three-day jury trial
in Benton, Illinois, last year.
The evidence at trial established that, in January 2018,
with the assistance of persons outside the
prison, Johnson succeeded in filing false involuntary
bankruptcy petitions against the prison
warden and an officer at the prison. The bogus petitions
alleged that each victim was indebted to
Johnson in the amount of $20 billion, owing to a judgment
Johnson claimed to have obtained from the
International Court of Justice (also known as the World
Court). As part of the scheme, Johnson
purportedly canceled $1 billion of the supposed debt and
then filed forms with the Internal Revenue
Service showing the canceled debt as unreported income for
his victims.
The mere filing of the fictitious claims resulted in both
victims receiving solicitation letters
from credit counseling services and loan companies based
upon their supposed bankruptcy. Once the
fraud was discovered, the United States quickly moved to
seal the proceedings to prevent further
damage to the victims’ reputations.
At trial, the United States presented evidence that Johnson
has a history and pattern of harassing
judges, court personnel, and Bureau of Prisons employees
through the filing of fictitious claims.
Johnson eschewed appointed counsel and represented himself
at the trial, testifying in his own
defense that he genuinely believed the World Court had
awarded him a default judgment for
$20 billion on account of his placement in the prison’s
Communications Management Unit. The jury
deliberated for approximately 40 minutes before returning
guilty verdicts on all four counts.
“Kurt Johnson broke the law trying to harm those who enforce
it,” U.S. Attorney Steven
D. Weinhoeft said. “His sentence sends an unmistakable
message to all criminals who would lash out
against the men and women who work within the justice
system: you will be prosecuted to the fullest
extent of the law.”
Johnson’s sentence also includes a three-year term of
supervised release.
Johnson won’t begin serving his 18-year sentence until he
finishes serving the last decade of a
300-month sentence he previously received for an unrelated
fraud conviction in the Northern
District of California. His underlying crime involved a
nationwide debt elimination scheme that
raked in over $6 million.
“I am grateful to U.S. Attorney Weinhoeft and our law
enforcement partners who serve on the
Southern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group
for their strong commitment to
combating fraud and abuse in bankruptcy cases, as evidenced
by this prosecution,” stated Nancy J.
Gargula, U.S. Trustee for Southern and Central Illinois and
Indiana (Region 10). The U.S. Trustee
Program is the component of the Justice Department that
protects the integrity of the bankruptcy
system by overseeing case administration and litigating to
enforce the bankruptcy laws. Region 10
is headquartered in Indianapolis, with additional offices in
South Bend, Indiana, and Peoria,
Illinois.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with substantial
assistance from the Federal Bureau of
Prisons. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Quinley and
William E. Coonan prosecuted the
case.
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