BRUNSWICK

The attorney for one of two Brunswick men facing prison sentences after being convicted on tax charges said he will seek a new trial, based on the fact that his client was delusional.

F. William Messier, 70, and David E. Robinson, 78, were convicted April 3 by a federal jury in Portland for conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the Internal Revenue Service.

Messier was also convicted of corruptly endeavoring to impede the IRS.

The verdict was announced in a statement by prosecutors Thomas Delahanty II and Caroline Ciraolo.

Messier was acquitted of willful failure to file income tax returns from 2008-12.

Prosecutors stated that Messier’s business, Oak Hill Communications, earned income from leasing telecommunications towers on his Brunswick property.

“From 1999 through 2013, Messier engaged in conduct intended to obstruct the enforce- ment of revenue laws, including providing false tax documents to customers, obstructing IRS collection activities and the extensive use of cash,” according to the statement.

The IRS assessed taxes and interest against Messier totaling $172,000 for taxes between 2000-04.

According to prosecutors, Messier worked with Robinson, who claimed to be the interim attorney general of the Maine Republic Free State and has self-published dozens of books, to obstruct enforcement of the levy. That included presenting the IRS with a fraudulent money order.

The two also “urged customers not to honor the levies or pay the IRS, urged customers to pay Messier in cash to conceal their payments from the IRS, sent false documents to the IRS and sent threatening and misleading correspondence to customers of Messier’s business urging them not to cooperate with the IRS,” according to prosecutors.

Messier’s attorney, Michael Louis Minns of Houston, Texas, said that while his client was found competent to stand trial, doctors for the defense have found Messier suffers from delusion.

“Bill and his friend Mr. Robinson believe some things most people don’t believe. Other than that, they’re fully functioning people, so the law says they’re competent,” said Minns. “Delusions are a fixed belief we can’t get rid of.”

According to Minns, Messier has begun counseling. He described his client as “a sweet guy” who has dealt with illness and personal trauma, and had come to believe in conspiracy theories espoused by con artists.

Messier has given away more than three-quarters of what he earned to family, friends, strangers and charities, according to Minns.

Minns blamed a Messier family member for turning him in to the IRS after Messier refused to provided the family member money for a vehicle.

Robinson, likewise, was “a sweet guy,” said Minns, is the sole remaining member of the Maine Republic Free State, which claims to be a sovereign state.

In a November 2014 motion to dismiss, Robinson said the IRS didn’t have authority to operate within the United States, stating the agency was “a collection agency working for foreign banks and operating out of Puerto Rico under color of the Federal Alcohol Administration,” now defunct.

Robinson was represented by a court-appointed attorney.

In October 2012, Robinson and Messier sued the IRS, the town of Brunswick, the U.S. Senate, the United States, and a slew of telecommunications companies, arguing that they had no obligation to pay federal income tax on land leased in Brunswick to several telecommunications companies.

The suit contented that “federal income tax is not binding and that the IRS has no authority to levy,” according to a magistrate’s written recommendation to dismiss the suit.

That suit was dismissed in 2013.

Minns said that there will be a sentencing if Messier is denied a new trial, after which Minns said he plans to appeal.

Messier faces up to eight years in prison and fines of up to $500,000, according to prosecutors. Robinson faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Meanwhile, Messier will begin paying taxes, said Minns.

“He’s never going to believe that he’s supposed to file, but he will voluntarily be doing that,” said Minns.

He later added: “It’s hard during this case not to laugh sometimes and not to cry sometimes, because they’re both sweet old men with no criminal record. Both now have a felony. Both are facing the possibility of prison.”

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com