BULLETIN: AdSurfDaily Story Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming Officially Loses Title To Seized Weapons, Badges, Police Gear, Computers And ‘Client’ Records
Kenneth Wayne Leaming
BULLETIN: UPDATED 8:17 P.M. ET (DEC. 10 U.S.A.) A federal judge in Washington state has issued a final order of forfeiture that awards title to items seized from AdSurfDaily story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming to the U.S. government.
Judge Ronald B. Leighton of the Western District of Washington signed the order on Nov. 22, the two-year anniversary date of Leaming’s arrest by an FBI terrorism task force. Federal prosecutors later said the Leaming probe was part of a larger investigation into “sovereign citizens” nationwide.
Prosecutors asked for the order on Nov. 13, noting that Leaming had consented to the forfeiture.
Included in the order are six firearms possessed by Leaming, a convicted felon, at the time of his arrest. Also included is police equipment found with Leaming, including badges, credentials, law-enforcement identification documents, light bars, crime-scene tape, handcuffs, vests, nightsticks and similar items.
Leaming, 57, was a member of the purported “County Rangers,” the alleged armed-enforcement wing of a group of “sovereign citizens.”
The order also applies to computers, external hard drives, documents and “client” files linked to Leaming.
Some ASD members said Leaming was performing legal work for them after the ASD Ponzi scheme was exposed by the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia in 2008. Leaming later was convicted on charges of filing false liens against government officials involved in the ASD Ponzi investigation and prosecution. In the same case, he was convicted of assisting another “sovereign citizen” in the filing of false liens against other government officials. Leaming also was convicted of being a felon in possession of firearms and harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a fraud scheme separate from ASD.
The government has not said what it intends to do with the seized “client” files and documents, some of which conceivably could be used to link Leaming to the ASD members who were using his services. Leaming’s history includes being accused in Washington state of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme. ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, 79, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May 2012 and now is serving a 78-month sentence in federal prison.
NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.
