Freemen Mom, Son Plead Not Guilty

Sat., April 13, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

Two freemen, a mother and son, quietly pleaded innocent Friday to fraud charges, in contrast to earlier fiery court appearances by other freemen.

Ebert W. Stanton, 23, and his mother, Agnes B. Stanton, 52, softly pleaded “not guilty” to 51 counts in a federal grand jury indictment.

“Thank you. You made a very good decision,” said U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson when the Stantons agreed to accept court-appointed attorneys.

The two Stantons on Thursday voluntarily left the compound near Jordan, 175 miles northeast of here, where the heavily-armed, anti-government freemen have been in a standoff with the FBI since March 25.

The Stantons were taken in handcuffs after they surrendered on the edge of the freemen’s 960-acre wheat and cattle ranch.

Both Stantons waived a reading of the lengthy indictment. They face federal charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and bank fraud in connection with the writing of at least $19.5 million in bogus checks and money orders between August 1994 and December 1995.

Agnes Stanton was released to the custody of another son in Billings, and will have to wear an electronic monitor. The son was not identified, at the request of her attorney.

In addition to the fraud charges, Ebert Stanton is charged with armed robbery for taking $66,000 in equipment from an ABC television crew in October 1995, and for threatening public officials. Anderson ordered him held without bond at the Yellowstone County jail until a hearing Tuesday.

K.L. Bliss, one of the Stantons’ neighbors who ranches near Jordan, told a reporter Friday that Ebert Stanton “was in a lot of trouble when he was a kid. He’s been a troubled kid all his life.” Bliss said that Stanton was “a hot head, but I wouldn’t call him a ringleader” of the freemen.

Claudia Stanton, a distant cousin of Agnes Stanton, called her “one of the nicest people you’re going to meet.”

A cold wind was blowing near the freemen’s compound Friday, where the FBI continued to maintain a low-key watch on the 19th day of the standoff. An estimated 18 freemen, including 10 wanted on federal or state charges, are still holed up on the remote ranch.

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