!!New Militia Sentencing-- Cleaver!!

Associated Press reports that James Cleaver of the Sons of Liberty has
been sentenced to 33 years. Others in this case are due for sentencing
this coming January.

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Associated Press, `Tax Protester Sentenced In Arson At IRS Office,`
Denver Post, 031125.
  
A tax protester who set fire to an Internal Revenue Service office in
what authorities called an anti-government  plot was sentenced today
to 33 years in federal prison.

James Cleaver, 49, of Colorado Springs was also ordered by U.S.
District Judge Richard Matsch to pay $2.2 million in restitution along
with co-defendant Jack Dowell.

The two were among five men accused of torching the IRS office in
Colorado Springs on May 3, 1997. The blaze destroyed the office,
injuring a firefighter and causing $2.5 million in damage.

"In America there are numerous ways one can lawfully voice dissent,"
U.S. Attorney John Suthers said. "Resorting to violence and putting
innocent people in harm's way is inexcusable, and those who are
responsible for these types of cowardly acts must be held accountable
for their crimes."

Dowell, 51, was sentenced in April to 30 years in prison for arson.
His cousin, 52-year-old Thomas Dowell, was acquitted.

Authorities said Cleaver masterminded the arson as a protest against
paying taxes. They said the three men broke into the IRS office,
dumped five gallons of gasoline and used a timing device to ignite the
blaze 10 minutes after they left.

The men were arrested in 2001. Cleaver was convicted of arson,
suborning perjury by asking a witness to lie to a grand jury, and
witness tampering.

The other defendants, Ronald Sherman and Thomas Shafer, pleaded guilty
to perjury and will be sentenced in January.