Sovereign citizen gets 12 years in prison for child pornography

[TexasTowelie]

GALVESTON -- A Galveston man who has argued he couldn’t be prosecuted because he is a sovereign citizen will serve 12 years in a federal prison for receipt and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

A judge Monday sentenced John David Knowlton, 57, several months after he was found guilty in a bench trial, said Angela Dodge, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Knowlton argued the federal judicial system didn’t have authority to punish him because he was a sovereign citizen, Dodge said.

The FBI defines the sovereign citizen movement as a group of anti-government extremists who believe they are separate from the United States, despite physically residing in the country. Adherents argue they don’t have to answer to any government authority, such as courts, taxing entities and law enforcement, according to federal documents.

Read more: https://www.galvnews.com/news/police/free/article_9d8a1d8d-2048-5000-81f0-99b628eb4058.html

It's always a pleasure to see the sovereign citizens end up in prison. It's a bonus when they are involved in child pornography.

[louis-t]

1. Maybe he can also pretend like he's invisible whilst in prison.

Buh Bye, scumbag.

[abqtommy]

4. He might not do so well if he's put in with the general populaton. I know California has a

separate prison just for child molesters/pornographers...

[Xipe Totec]

2. Now a sovereign resident of a federal penitentiary nt

[CatMor]

3. I wish the sentence was longer ...

child pornography is despicable. Sometimes I wish they would throw away the key on them.

[Gothmog]

5. Sovereign citizen types are scary

The ADL did a presentation on hate groups for my firm and Sovereign citizen groups are very scary

[TexasTowelie]

6. A few years ago, I had a friend that ran into some financial difficulties

and he was looking at having to go to court. I was also having financial difficulties so he sent me a huge document attached in an email. Within a few minutes, I realized that it sovereign citizen BS and replied to him to not pursue that strategy. He was young and didn't know any better, but I probably saved him from going to jail for contempt of court.

[spinbaby]

7. I served on a jury for one of them once

He acted as his own attorney and argued that the government had no right to prosecute him for drunk driving and assaulting police officers. The officers reported that he told them he didn’t need their services. The sovereign citizen was a complete idiot and we found him guilty in less than half an hour.

[The Genealogist]

8. They'd be funny if they weren't so scary

I didn't read the article, but I'm going to guess he ranted about the gold trim on the flag during his trial.

[LeftInTX]

9. He'll spend all his time in the libary writing endless appeals

Hopefully they will end up in the trash due to technicalities.