A Texas employer who believes the U.S. Constitution and tax code do not require him to withhold taxes from his employees has been convicted on 29 counts of violating U.S. income tax laws.

Richard Simkanin, 59, owner and principal of Arrow Custom Plastics in Bedford, Texas, stopped withholding from his employees' wages in 2000.

Supporters of Richard Simkanin near federal courthouse in Forth Worth

He was accused of failing to withhold and pay $175,000 in taxes on employee wages and of filing 15 fraudulent refund claims for about $235,000.

A jury of six men and six women delivered the verdict last night after more than 13 hours of deliberation, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The panel was deadlocked on two counts, leading U.S. District Judge John McBryde to declare a mistrial on those charges.

The paper said Simkanin showed no emotion as the clerk read the verdict, but some supporters in the courtroom dabbed their eyes while others glared at the judge.

Simkanin, scheduled to be sentenced April 30, could get up to five years on each of the 25 felony counts and up to a year on each of the four misdemeanor charges, the Fort Worth daily reported.

His stand on federal taxes has made him a hero to members of the "tax honesty movement," most prominently represented currently by a group called We the People.

When the trial began Monday in Fort Worth, Texas, supporters from across the country stood outside the federal courthouse with signs bearing messages such as "Stop Judicial Tyranny."

We the People has a national campaign to encourage employers not to withhold taxes for the government. In a statement on its website, the organization says:

"On March 15, 2003, [WTP Chairman] Bob Schulz officially put the IRS on notice that WTP has initiated a national campaign to educate officials of private companies that under U.S. law, their workers are not subject to withholding, that the companies are not legally 'withholding agents' and that the individual income tax is fraudulent in its origin and unlawful in its enforcement and operation."

We the People founder Robert Schulz told supporters after the verdict Simkanin was prepared for the worst.

"His spirits are fine. His faith is strong," Schulz said, according to the Fort Worth paper.

Simkanin's lawyer, Arch D. McColl III of Dallas, who said he expects to win on appeal, insisted his client merely was acting on what he believes the law requires, the Star-Telegram reported. McColl asserted Simkanin is not a criminal but someone who "risked everything to get at the truth."

"I'm terribly disappointed," he said after the verdict. "It was not a fair trial in accordance with the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution that includes the fundamental right to present evidence on your own behalf."

In testimony Monday, McColl tried to address the constitutionality of federal income tax laws but was cut off numerous times by U.S. District Judge John McBryde, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

McColl was unable to query witnesses on legal definitions of employee and wages, the paper said, and when he asked whether Social Security taxes were mandatory, McBryde sternly interjected: "We're not going to play this game."

At one point, in response to laughter from Simkanin's supporters over McColl's treatment, McBryde sent the jury out of the room and told the audience he would dismiss them if there was another "outburst."

"We're in a court of law, but we can't talk about the law," Mike Owens of Denver told the Fort Worth paper during a courtroom break.

Vicki Ariatti, also of Colorado, told the Star-Telegram she was disgusted by the proceedings.

"This is his life, and he can't defend himself with the code book and that is where the law is – in the code book," Ariatti said.

Simkanin testified Tuesday that his research of Supreme Court decisions led him to believe Medicare and Social Security are voluntary programs.

"Since I could not find a law, or they [the IRS] show me a law ... I decided not to hold the alleged taxes" from my employees, Simkanin said, according to the Star-Telegram. "I would absolutely pay every tax I legally owe," if it can be explained, he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis, however, told jurors Simkanin should be found guilty for playing "fun and games with the laws of the land" in a cynical effort to avoid paying taxes, the Fort Worth daily reported.

"He must follow the rules and play by the rules like everyone else," Jarvis said. "We are a nation of laws, not a nation of chaos."

Simkanin's first trial was in November, but McBryde declared a mistrial when jurors were unable to reach a verdict after eight hours of deliberation. The trial came after a plea agreement signed by Simkanin was thrown out because it misstated his maximum possible sentence as three years instead of five.

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