Officials sentence founder of anti-government site for interstate threats

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (FOX Carolina) - The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the founder and creator of an anti-government website was sentenced to prison in Asheville for aiding and abetting threatening interstate communications.

According to filed court documents, Timothy Michael Dever, 57, of Illinois, was the creator and administrator of a website for a fictitious entity, the “People’s Bureau of Investigation” (PBI). As the website’s administrator, Dever hosted, maintained, and provided content for PBI, including templates for court judgements or “Writs of Execution,” issued by the “U.S. Environmental District Court,” a fictitious court that purportedly had convicted hundreds of public officials and private individuals of various crimes.

Officials said the website claimed that the writs gave private citizens the authority to conduct a “citizen’s arrest” of the individuals on the fake writs. Those arrested could face a punishment of monetary fines, imprisonment, and even death, and that anyone who made a “citizen’s arrest” of the persons named in the writs was eligible to receive a monetary reward of up to $20,000.

Court documents said Dever promoted the writs as a mechanism for removing federal, state, and local officials from their positions. Dever made the template for the fake writs available for download on PBI’s website, as well as other documents and videos that explained the purpose of the writs and how to serve them.

For example, one video on the website was a recorded radio talk show, where Dever and another individual discussed how private citizens could arrest “a sheriff, a judge and a governor,” who they claimed to have been convicted in the “highest court of the land.”

Officials said Dever also maintained on PBI’s website a list that contained the names, home addresses, and personal information of victims who had been falsely named as convicted defendants in the fake writs. Court records show that the PBI website listed the personal identifying information of over 900 victims, located in approximately 32 different states.

Darris Gibson Moody, 57, of Waynesville, North Carolina was a like-minded PBI group member who accused her targets of having been convicted of corruption, environmental charges, and even treason. Offiicals said she used the PBI website to generate fake arrest writs for 57 individuals, most of whom resided in the Western District of North Carolina, including sheriffs, judges, and other government officials and private individuals, and used software to fax the fake arrest notices to the recipients.

“Dever’s anti-government rhetoric and fake arrest writs were more than a nuisance. They put hundreds of lives at risk,” said U.S. Attorney King. “Those who shared Dever’s warped ideology, including Moody, became self-proclaimed bounty hunters that turned innocent victims into targets of harassment, intimidation, and death threats. But, unlike Dever and Moody’s sham court proceedings, my Office has legitimate authority to hold these defendants accountable for their actions.”

Dever pleaded guilty to five counts of aiding and abetting interstate threatening communication and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was also was ordered to serve three years under court supervision after he is released from prison.

Moody pleaded guilty to making an interstate threating communication and was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release for making a threatening interstate communication.

The pair are both in the federal custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

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