Man Fortifies House with Weapons, Sandbags to Stop IRS From Selling It At Auction
A federal jury has sentenced Paul Kenneth Cromar to prison for tax evasion and related charges. Photo credit: Utah County Sheriff’s Department.
This sentencing comes after a federal jury convicted Cromar of the charges on June 4, 2024, according to the June 5, 2024, DOJ press release about his conviction. Cromar owned a home in Cedar Hills, Utah, and owned and operated the freelance film and media production company Blue Moon Productions LLC.
In addition to six years in prison, Cromar is ordered to pay his outstanding tax debts, according to the most recent DOJ press release.
It All Started with Income Taxes
Between 1999 and 2005, Cromar failed to file a federal income tax return and did not pay any federal income taxes, according to the indictment. Starting around 2005, IRS revenue agents began to audit Cromar for the tax years ranging from 1999 to 2005.
In July 2007, the audit concluded, and the IRS found that Cromar failed to pay his taxes and assessed that he owed $703,266.96 in total taxes, penalties and interest fees, according to the Indictment.
Claimed to Not Be an American Citizen
Cromar provided documents and argued during the auditing process that he was not an American citizen and, thus, didn’t need to pay federal income taxes, according to the indictment. The IRS sent Cromar a letter warning him that the argument was false and would not work because he had been rejected in several court cases. Cromar was then offered the opportunity to make payments on the taxes he owed, but he failed to comply.
In 2008, the IRS attempted to collect on Cromar’s debt and met with Cromar at his Cedar Hills home in September 2009 to inform him of their efforts to collect, according to the indictment. That same month, the IRS filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien on the title of Cromar’s residential property, which he shared with his wife in Cedar Hills.
In 2017, the IRS attempted to foreclose on Cromar’s Cedar Hills home to collect their debt, according to the indictment. As a delay, Cromar filed multiple motions and notices, but in March 2019, a court ordered Cromar’s Cedar Hills home to be sold at auction. The judge also ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to secure the property by evicting Cromar and the other residents.
At around the same time, Cromar filed a Notice claiming to have a $120 million claim on the home in a related lawsuit he had filed against an IRS revenue officer, an attorney at the Department of Justice, the then Attorney General William P. Barr and Chief Judge Robert J. Shelby, according to the indictment. The case was dismissed as frivolous in August 2019.
Evicted by U.S. Marshals
On June 25, 2019, Cromar was removed from his Cedar Hills home by the U.S. Marshals Service, who changed the locks, according to the indictment. Cromar tried to seek a stay but was denied, then denied again in an appeal on Aug. 28, 2019.
On Sept. 13, 2019, the Cedar Hills home was auctioned. Cromar attended the event and filmed it, passing out copies of the Notice of his dismissed claim of $120 million, according to the indictment. When the property purchaser sought investors to help with the cost, Cromar showed up at the walkthroughs, filming and trying to scare off potential buyers.
In December 2019, per Cromar’s request, the IRS sent Cromar a letter stating that he owed $1,174,201.91 in taxes, interest and penalty fees to the IRS, according to the indictment. In January 2020, although he didn’t have the funds, Cromar sent the IRS a “Notice of Final Payment” and a promissory note for the amount owed. Cromar then demanded that the IRS stop the sale of the Cedar Hills home based on those documents. The IRS did not respond.
Tried to Forcibly Retake Home
On April 29, 2020, the Cedar Hills home sale closed. Cromar and others illegally entered the home and fortified the property with sandbags, wooden boards and weapons, according to the indictment. They occupied the house until Sept. 24, 2020.
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