By Beverley Wang, Associated Press Writer | October 10, 2007
CONCORD, N.H. --After 10 months of self-imposed exile at his castle-like home, authorities Wednesday delivered convicted New Hampshire tax evader Ed Brown to his new home -- a federal prison in Ohio.
Stephen Monier, U.S. Marshal for New Hampshire, said Brown arrived late morning at the low security Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton, Ohio. His wife, Elaine Brown, arrived at minimum security federal prison in Danbury, Conn., earlier this week.
Both were sentenced to 63-month prison terms in April, following their conviction in January of scheming to avoid federal income taxes by hiding $1.9 million of income between 1996 and 2003. But the couple -- who believe the federal income tax is not legitimate -- had eluded arrest for months, refusing to leave their hill-top home located on 110 acres in rural Plainfield. They were finally arrested last week, taken into custody by officers posing as visiting supporters.
Monier said Ed Brown, 65, had not spent any time in a New Hampshire jail since his arrest, but had been staying at undisclosed loactions under watch of marshal's deputies on his way to prison via the government's prisoner transportation system.
Supporters of the Browns had begun to question the whereabouts of Ed Brown, noting he had been listed as not in custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons. On at least one blog friendly to the Browns, http://edbrownvlog.blogspot.com, supporters wondered whether "Brown has been disappeared into a black hole and is being mistreated or even tortured."
Asked Wednesday about the message, Monier dismissed it outright. "That's absolutely ludicrous," he said.
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