A federal judge slapped stiff prison sentences Tuesday on the leaders of the Montana Freemen as “a loud and clear message to those who pass this hatred and ugliness around.”
Freemen leader LeRoy Schweitzer drew 22 1/2 years, which his lawyer said amounted to a life sentence for the 61-year-old man.
Other top figures among the anti-government extremists were sentenced to as many as 15 years. But two wives of Freemen received sentences equal to the time they already served while awaiting trial.
Schweitzer and six other defendants refused to enter the courtroom. They were able to watch the proceedings via television from a holding cell after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour declined to have marshals bring them in by force.
Nine Freemen were convicted in two trials last year. They and their followers were accused of trying to undermine the nation’s banking system by issuing thousands of bogus checks totaling billions of dollars.
