Hillsboro Man Considered Sovereign Citizen Leader Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Charges

A man described by the Anti-Defamation League as "one of the most prominent sovereign citizen gurus in the United States States" was in Federal Court in Portland Thursday, pleading not guilty to charges he failed to pay his taxes and used fictitious financial instruments to pay off debt.

Winston Shrout of Hillsboro is charged in a 19-count federal indictment.

The ADL adds that he is "a man whose videos and seminars have attracted thousands of people to the anti-government extremist movement."

Prosecutors claim that Shrout did not pay taxes for years and sold "International Bills of Exchange" and "Non-Negotiable Bills of Exchange" that he claimed were worth billions "when he knew these instruments were in fact worthless."

The judge is so far letting Shrout represent himself but cautioned him against proceeding down that path.

If convicted, Shrout faces more than a lifetime in prison - 25 years for each of the 13 fake financial instrument counts and one year act for the six failure to file taxes counts.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has also described him as one of the "leaders" of the sovereign citizen movement who "market a variety of schemes to avoid taxes, eliminate debts and extract money from the government."

The ADL says that he grew up in Kentucky and lived in Utah before moving to Oregon.

His trial is scheduled to begin in June.