Wolffe Says He Pleaded Guilty
To Keep Wife from Being Cited

Randolph resident and former legislative candidate Robert Wolffe turned state’s witness in a federal conspiracy case after authorities told him that his wife Valeri might be arrested on weapons charges, he told a court this week.

This week he provided crucial testimony in the Concord, N.H. trial of three men for conspiracy in the saga of tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown.

Jason Gerhard of Brookhaven, N.Y., Cirino Gonzolez of Alice, Texas, and Daniel Riley of Cohoes, N.Y. are charged with conspiracy and other crimes in helping the Browns establish an armed fortress in Plainfield, N.H. while staving off arrest for tax evasion.

The three are being tried in federal court in Concord.

Wolffe himself had been charged as being another conspirator, but he chose to plead guilty. He denied on the stand that he had been offered clemency in return for his testimony, but he did mention that threats to arrest his wife had helped convince him to plead guilty.

He has not yet been sentenced, but could receive from 8 months to 52 years on the charges.

Wolffe’s testimony this week provided an inside look at his role and that of others in keeping the Browns supplied with necessities and multiple weapons during their nine-month standoff with the federal government. The Browns attracted numerous adherents across the country with their bizarre claim that there is no law requiring people to pay income taxes.

After mail was cut off to the Browns’ house, Wolffe said, he agreed to use his home to collect gifts that were mailed to them. He also admitted he supplied the couple with materials for making pipe bombs. He made 25 to 30 trips to the fortified Plainfield home, delivering various supplies, he said.

The standoff ended in October after the Browns and their supporters were tricked by a team of U. S. marshals, who gained entry to the property by pretending they were supporters. The couple was then arrested without violence, but an arsenal of weapons and bombs was found on the property.

The trial of Gerhard, Gonzalez, and Riley is expected to last at least two weeks.