Bruce Doucette | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 or 1961 [1] |
| Occupations | Computer repair shop owner, pseudolegal activist |
| Movement | Sovereign citizens |
| Convictions | Participation in a racketeering enterprise Retaliation against a judge (3 counts) Attempt to influence a civil servant |
| Criminal penalty | 38 years |
Date apprehended | 2017 |
Bruce Doucette is an American sovereign citizen "guru" [2] and self-proclaimed judge who has been convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and other felonies, [3] and sentenced to 38 years imprisonment. [4]
Doucette, the owner of a computer repair shop in Littleton, Colorado, became a prominent sovereign citizen activist during the 2010s. Styling himself a "Superior Court Judge of the Continental uNited States of America" (unusual capitalization intended), [1] he formed a group called the "The People's Grand Jury in Colorado" and, among other actions, advised people in encampments in Costilla County on how to oppose land-use regulations. Doucette traveled the United States to help sovereign citizens fight local governments and set up their own irregular "common law courts". [5] [1] [6] The "oath" by Doucette and his followers read: "I am the warrior protector for those who know not how to speak of the crimes against them." [5]
In 2016, Doucette associated with Ammon Bundy and his group: at the beginning of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, he announced that he would convene a "citizens grand jury" [7] [8] and threatened to hold "a trial with the redress of grievance" against county and other government officials. [9] [10] His effort to "review evidence that public officials may have committed crimes" was unsuccessful. [11]
Doucette and his followers attempted to intimidate public officials so they would dismiss criminal cases against other sovereign citizens. [12] When these efforts failed, Doucette's group retaliated by engaging in paper terrorism against them [1] with false subpoenas and false liens, [5] [13] a common sovereign citizen harassment tactic, [14] and threatening them with "arrest" by their self-appointed "Marshals". [12]
Doucette and several of his associates were arrested in March 2017, and charged with multiple felony counts. [3] [5] Doucette acted as his own lawyer during their trial. [13] In May 2018, Colorado's 18th Judicial District ruled that Doucette's network of "common law courts" was a racketeering enterprise equivalent to organized crime and also found Doucette guilty of retaliation against several judges and attempting to influence a public servant. He was sentenced to 38 years in prison, including 20 years for participating in a racketeering enterprise, additional consecutive terms of 4, 5 and 4 years for retaliation against three different judges, 5 years for attempting to influence a public servant and concurrent sentences for several other similar charges. [12] Two of his co-defendants were sentenced to 36 and 22 years, respectively. [1] [15] At his sentencing hearing, Doucette said: “I do not consent and never have." [3] The sentencing of Doucette and his associates was the most important crackdown on a sovereign citizen organization since the case of the Montana Freemen in 1996. [1] [4]