Woman filed $100 billion in false liens against federal employees
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CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) -
A Chicago woman filed false liens against the property of federal judges, prosecutors and federal agents, claiming they owed her brother billions of dollars, according to an indictment announced Friday.
Cherron Marie Phillips, 42 — aka "River Tali" and several other aliases — filed the phony liens against four federal judges, two federal prosecutors, five federal agents and a federal court clerk. The targets included James Holderman, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Chicago; and former U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, according to the indictment.
The liens, filed in Cook County, cited "performance of their official duties, but each included a "materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and representation," including charges that the victims each owed Phillips' brother $100 billion, the indictment alleges.
Her brother had been convicted in an unrelated narcotics case, according to prosecutors. The targets of the liens included judges and prosecutors involved in the case.
The case is being prosecuted by the Southern District of Illinois because some of the targets of the liens were employees of the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago.
"We take these cases very seriously," U.S. Atty. Stephen Wigginton said in a statement. "We will continue to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all who seek to intimidate, harass, and retaliate against federal judges and employees by filing false liens against their property. Federal workers, and all workers, should be able to fairly do their jobs without fear of this kind of harassment."
Phillips is being held in the custody of U.S. Marshals pending a detention hearing next week. Filing a false lien against a federal official over performance of duties is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fined.
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