Driver’s License Scofflaw Gets Jail

A self-described patriot leader who contends driver’s license laws are unconstitutional has been sentenced to six months in jail for driving without a license.

Ron Kurpuis must also pay a $2,000 fine under the sentence ordered Thursday after a Chelan County District Court jury convicted him of two counts of not having a valid driver’s license.

Judge Tom Warren said he imposed the maximum sentence because Kurpuis showed clear intent to disobey the law.

Kurpuis, 47, of East Wenatchee, said Friday he planned to appeal.

Chelan County sheriff’s deputies first pulled Kurpuis over in May. He was driving a car with white-and-black plates he claimed to be from the British West Indies. Deputies said the plates are not valid.

He also failed to produce a proper driver’s license, instead showing an international driver’s permit with a United Nations emblem on the front.

Kurpuis argued during the trial that state driver’s license and vehicle license laws are unconstitutional. He said the Constitution guarantees that no individual can be deprived of the right to travel on public highways for non-commercial purposes.

Kurpuis, a former Wenatchee Police Department reserve officer, is an associate of Bruce A. Banister, the leader of the Wenatchee Minuteman Militia. In May, Kurpuis filed for bankruptcy protection after the IRS filed a $2,000 lien for failure to pay federal income taxes from 1991-1994.