A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a self-proclaimed “sovereign” citizen of filing more than $20 billion in false liens against government officials.

Ronald James Davenport faces up to 40 years in prison and a $1 million fine after being convicted of four counts of filing false retaliatory liens against government officials, but he has no criminal history and likely will receive much less time.

The $5 billion liens against all property owned by former U.S. Attorney Jim McDevitt, U.S. District Court Clerk James Larsen, IRS Revenue Officer William Waight and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolf Tangvald were filed in retaliation for a 2008 civil suit seeking $250,000 in unpaid taxes from Davenport.

“Rather than properly defend himself in the action, the defendant attacked those he perceived as facilitating the lawsuit,” prosecutors said in a trail briefing.

Davenport, then 62, was arrested in June 2010 but has been out of jail and is living in Chewelah, according to court documents.

His ex-wife described him as a vehement anti-tax advocate and told authorities he might “go Ruby Ridge” if the government tried seizing his home for unpaid taxes, according to a previous report. Davenport described himself in court filing as a sovereign, a group of people who typically do not recognize the authority of the federal government.

A sentencing date has not been set.

A Moses Lake couple who runs an financial consulting and insurance brokerage firm have been charged with failing to pay taxes.

J. Scott Vrieling and his wife, Patrica Dionn Vrieling, are each charged with four misdemeanors for allegedly failing to pay taxes from 2004 through 2007.

The charges carry no more than a year in prison, a $100,000 fine and a year of probation.

The Vrielings own Vrieling Financial in Moses Lake. The firm opened in 1949 and provides brokerage and consulting services to businesses and executives.

A grand jury indicted them Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

A former Colbert couple, who reportedly has made millions from the sale of porcelain figurines, has been sentenced to federal prison for refusing to pay more than $800,000 in income taxes.

Scott D. and Kristin W. Haynes, both 56, were sentenced late Tuesday after pleading guilty to five counts of failing to file tax returns for the years 1999 through 2003. They were arrested June 22 when they traveled to Florida after living for several years on a tropical island in the Caribbean that is part of Honduras.

Kristin Haynes is the artist and creator of figurines sold nationwide under the “Dreamsicles” trademark. Scott Haynes was a 50 percent shareholder in the corporation, from which the couple earned royalties from the sales of her creations.

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A former North Idaho resident has been charged with federal tax evasion.

Michael George Fitzpatrick is accused of using offshore bank accounts to hide his assets and of failing to file individual income tax returns in 2003 and 2004.

He also allegedly didn’t filed corporate income tax returns in 2004 for the Washington corporation Dynamic Solutions, and a Nevada corporation, NAES.

Both companies claimed to allow people “to completely eliminate their credit card debt and other types of debt,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Fitzpatrick, a former resident of Sandpoint and Hope, as well as Kent, Wash., is charged with two counts of tax evasion and two counts of failure to file a tax return, according to a grand jury indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boise.

Tax evasion carries a maximum of 5 years in prison; failure to file brings a maximum of one year.