Wednesday • April 23 • 2025
Vol.XVII • No.XVII
Manchester, N.H.
(white) goldstandard-05-18-23-H.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-05-18-23-H-y.pdf
The post House Gold Standard – May 18, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
(white) goldstandard-05-18-23-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-05-18-23-S-y.pdf
The post Senate Gold Standard – May 18, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
Once upon a time, public schools were largely a response to two constraints: scarcity of educational resources, and difficulty of travel. But those constraints are no longer as significant as they once were...
The post Abolish Government Schools With The #YellowNewDeal! appeared first on The Liberty Block.
The Trump verdict in the civil case; the Santos arrest; the congressional press conference on the Bidens’ money scandals; the end of Title 42; immigrants being sent to counties outside of NYC, where their leaders are declaring states of emergency to keep them out; does the UK have the same immigration problem?
The post The Conservatarian Exchange Podcast #153 appeared first on The Liberty Block.
In light of the recent controversy within the New Hampshire liberty community surrounding drag queens, sexuality, children, violence, tolerance, and parental rights, I feel compelled to weigh in on the issue. By way of background, a liberty-adjacent individual who was planning to speak at the upcoming Porcfest made a violent threat against anyone who reads to children while dressed in drag during the festival.
The post How Should We Deal With Drag Queens & Children? appeared first on The Liberty Block.
(white) goldstandard-05-11-23-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-05-11-23-S-y.pdf
The post Senate Gold Standard – May 11, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
(white) goldstandard-05-11-23-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-05-11-23-S-y.pdf
The post Senate Gold Standard – May 11, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
Frank “Footloose” Staples was wrongfully arrested on charges of “disorderly conduct” for sitting quietly at an executive council meeting in 2021. Last week his nearly two-month trial wrapped up, with Frank found not guilty of the initial “disorderly”, but guilty of the subsequent charge he received after he announced to the audience that he was being arrested in the back of the room. He intends to appeal.
In five days of court spread out over weeks, the state police’s prosecutors alleged Frank was disrupting the meeting and that’s why he was targeted. Frank’s multiple witnesses said he was never disruptive and that the state police were clearly looking to make arrests, as the chairs were zip tied together, multiple paddy wagons were on hand, and dozens of uniformed officers were present.
Ultimately the robed man decided the state had not met its burden of proof on the initial charge, but claimed, confusingly, that the police had probable cause to make the arrest. How can the police have probable cause to make an arrest for which the person is then found not guilty? They can’t. The judge is obviously covering for the police and trying to justify the second “disorderly” count that Frank received when he was taken behind the curtain and arrested, which is when he yelled that he was being arrested and to “shut it down!”.
The trial was very entertaining with Frank blowing up and yelling at the judge and the prosecutors many times. If you’ve seen him in court videos before, you know what to expect. I hope you enjoy this 13-hour trial video:
This week’s (May 3) show topics included: Hunter Biden being forced to show up in court in person and reveal his financials. 1500 troops sent to the border—to do something real or to help facilitate more migrants? The government punishing home buyers for having good credit; Bernie Sanders wanting to confiscate anything more than 999 million dollars from the wealthy...
The post The Conservatarian Exchange Podcast #152 appeared first on The Liberty Block.
Of the 4 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 0 and opposition of 0 with 0 being of interest.
Of the 3 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 1 and opposition of 1 with 0 being of interest.
| Position | Bill | Title | Committee | Day | Time | Room | State Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | HB281 | relative to least cost integrated resource plan of utilities. | Energy and Natural Resources | Tue 5/9 | 9:00 AM | SH Room 103 | This bill: I. Repeals the requirement for electric and natural gas utilities to submit least cost integrated resource plans with the public utilities commission and have the commission evaluate the plans and maintain them on file. II. Removes the requirement that a municipal host under the limited electrical energy producers act be located in the same municipality as all group members. III. Requires the public utilities commission to provide an estimated annual cost of compliance with electric renewable portfolio standards in customer’s electric bills. IV. Repeals the establishment of the energy efficiency and sustainable energy board and transfer some of the board’s responsibilities to the department of energy. V. Makes various changes to the energy facility site evaluation committee and permitting process. |
| Oppose | HB532 | relative to the licensure and regulation of music therapists. | Executive Departments and Administration | Wed 5/10 | 9:00 AM | SH Room 103 | See State website. Two proposed amendments will be heard. |
The post Bill Hearings for Week of May 08, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
Whenever anything bad happens that involves a gun, we can safely predict that two other things are going to happen shortly thereafter. The first is that some kind of gun control laws will be proposed. The second is that these proposals will be met with claims that ‘gun control laws don’t work’.
The post Gun Control Laws Do Work! appeared first on The Liberty Block.
(white) goldstandard-05-04-23-H.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-05-04-23-H-y.pdf
The post House Gold Standard – May 04, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
Of the 1 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 0 and opposition of 0 with 0 being of interest.
Of the 10 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 0 and opposition of 0 with 3 being of interest.
| Position | Bill | Title | Committee | Day | Time | Room | State Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Of Interest | HB1 | making appropriations for the expenses of certain departments of the state for fiscal years ending June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2025. | Finance | Tue 5/2 | 6:00 PM | SH Room Reps Hall | No analysis needed. |
| Of Interest | HB2 | relative to state fees, funds, revenues, and expenditures. | Finance | Tue 5/2 | 6:00 PM | SH Room Reps Hall | See bill at state website. |
| Of Interest | HB269 | relative to limiting the authority of New Hampshire delegates to policymaking conventions. | Rules and Enrolled Bills | Tue 5/2 | 9:30 AM | SH Room 100 | This bill: I. Establishes a procedure for the selection of delegates to an inter/intrastate policy-making convention. II. Limits the authority of delegates to policymaking conventions to only those granted by the New Hampshire legislature. III. Creates a procedure for recalling and replacing delegates to policymaking conventions who act outside of the scope of the authority granted to them by the New Hampshire legislature. |
The post Bill Hearings for Week of May 01, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
This week's (April 26) show topics included:
Tucker Carlson leaving Fox—how big a story is it? Was it because of his stance on the Ukraine war, the J6 story, Schumer’s call for his firing, his general dissidence? Will Tucker be bound by any non-disclosure or non-compete agreement?
The post The Conservatarian Exchange Podcast #151 appeared first on The Liberty Block.
A few dozen of the ~50 supporters who turned out for Aria’s sentencing hearing
A judge in the Crypto6 case has sentenced Free State activist Aria DiMezzo to 18 months in federal prison on Tuesday for operating a cryptocurrency business without a government permission slip.
In September of 2022 Aria was coerced into taking a plea deal over a politically motivated attack on Ian Freeman, the Shire Free Church, and Free Talk live. Fraudulent charges were brought against Aria by the feds claiming that she operated an unlicensed money transmitting business. Ignorance in the courts as to what Bitcoin was unfortunately left Aria in a very difficult situation. Judge Joseph Laplante didn’t understand what Bitcoin was and after some effort to explain it failed he was left believing that the blockchain was a person. It isn’t. The blockchain is more akin to a database or a ledger of records.
https://www.freedomdecrypted.com/public_html/other-content/aria-crypto6-after-sentencing-speech.mp4
Aria Talks To Reporters After Sentencing Decision Is Handed Down Outside Court
Under the money transmitter statutes one is a money transmitter and requires a money transmitting license if one acts as an intermediary to move money from one location to another or from one person to another for profit. Examples of this include Western Union, Money Gram, and Walmart’s Walmart2Walmart money transfer service. Bitcoin isn’t money in the sense that the laws define it under the money transmission statutes- particularly those that were at play during the time that sales of Bitcoin by the two churches occurred.
Aria nor the Reformed Satanic Church had any obligation to register with the state or federal government according to the banking bureaucrats and lawyers. As such neither the Shire Free Church nor the Reformed Satanic Church were registered as money transmitting entities. Agents of the state made clear during state hearings that Bitcoin wasn’t regulated under these money transmission statutes saying that moving Bitcoin from ones own wallet to that of another is not regulated. It’s possible that in some states and countries Bitcoin is regulated or it is under other circumstances. However, according to the lawyers that wasn’t the case here as the churches crypto vending machines were not connected to an exchange and did not act as an intermediary. For this and other reasons including the lack of conducting such activities for profit registration at the state and federal levels were not required.
The prosecution has attempted to imply that the churches were fake through use of choice words such as “purported churches” while never providing any evidence (such as during Ian Freeman’s trial) that the churches were in fact fake. Rather what was revealed during Ian Freeman’s trial was that the churches were real. The Shire Free Church is an interfaith church founded in 2013 with the aim of promoting peace, love, and liberty and anyone of any belief with that as its foundation is welcome. It wasn’t until many years later that the Shire Free Church setup a Bitcoin outreach operation to promote and raise funds for charitable causes. To that end the church did setup a DBA called the Crypto Church Of New Hampshire for the those outreach efforts, but this was merely one outreach effort involving crypto, not a church unto itself. Other non-crypto outreach efforts occurred as well such as helping the homeless, orphans in Africa, and locally persecuted religious minority: A minority Muslim community in Keene. The Shire Free Church has for over a decade helped low income families and others with drug addictions. The church has raised funds to build orphanages in Africa and helped minority religious groups in Keene by providing space and covering costs to renovate said space to be a mosque. During the cleaning and renovation period parishioners of the Shire Free Church got together and cleaned the space that would become the mosque. While the Reformed Satanic Church was at the time of the raid a young church the church and its parishioners had participated in fundraising activities to help kids with cancer. DiMezzo’s church sold about ~$3,178,895 of Bitcoin between June of 2020 and January of 2021 with about $30,000 being raised for charity according to prosecutors (though they would not call it charity, but profit despite no evidence to that end).
The prosecution claimed DiMezzo worked closely with Freeman, and discussion during her sentencing hearing hinged largely on this connection. This connection was manipulative in that the Shire Free Church had been around and selling crypto for many years prior to the Reformed Satanic Churches founding. As a result the church had one of the best ratings and demand from those wanting to purchase cryptocurrency. The Shire Free Churches operation couldn’t handle it and as a result Ian started referring people to the Reformed Satanic Church. As both churches were going above and beyond what was required by law each did what is required of money transmitters- that is they did something called “know your customer” even though they didn’t have to. Know your customer is basically a system for deterring criminals from utilizing money transmitting services in their criminal operations by requiring banks and money transmitters to identify customers and ask questions. It’s an imperfect if not entirely broken system- but the idea is that if you identify your customer by requiring ID and ask appropriate questions you can thwart some scammers and criminal activity. In that process the churches would require people to submit paperwork including copies of IDs or passports, pictures of notes stating that they understood what they were buying was Bitcoin, and in many instances calls would be made to those purchasing Bitcoin. Questions would be asked in an attempt to weed out potential victims. In one case Ian was quoted as having asked a women if she had ever met her husband just to make sure that she wasn’t being manipulated. Unfortunately the reality is victims of scams will often say anything that they are told by scammers in order to get around KYC efforts. Of interesting note is that not a single bank even bothered to call any of the 7-8 victims regarding these transactions that the state put up on the stand to testify. A credit union employee who testified for the prosecution and was the credit unions expert on know your customer even testified that financial institutions aren’t required to stop suspicious transactions as this is why the credit union didn’t cut off the Shire Free Church until numerous transactions had occurred. No, the churches went above and beyond what was required and this is why Aria’s phone and Ian’s computer contained photos of which the prosecutor attempted to manipulate into being evidence of a connection. Out of 6,000 transactions a few victims had utilized both the Shire Free Church and the Reformed Satanic Church’s services. Even had such a connection existed there was no evidence of fraud presented during Ian’s trial, just mere implications that Ian should have been suspicious of some transactions because the persons were elderly. As if elderly persons aren’t interested in Bitcoin. Humorously the defense lawyer pointed out most of the victims were younger than he was. The victims even testified that Ian Freeman was not part of the scams so to try and suggest Aria knew of the scam by way of Ian was just propitious given neither knew of the individualized scams at the time Bitcoin transactions were occurring.
In the sentencing memorandum, the defense requested three years of supervised release with one of those years to be home confinement. The prosecutors on the other hand demanded the maximum sentence that the plea agreement would allow for: 37 months in prison.
The defense won their argument that bringing in Ian Freeman’s trial was inappropriate and the judge stated in his decision on the sentence “I’m considering not a shred of evidence from the Freeman trial”. Aria will have to pay a $2,500 fine, $100 special assessment, serve 18 months in a cage, and serve one year of supervised release following her release from prison.
The hearing brought out around ~50 supporters, mostly Free Staters who understood that this was a case of political persecution and attempt to take out Ian Freeman and Free Talk Live. One FBI agent Phil Christiana in particular has been at the core of these attacks. FBI agent Phil Christiana has had his sight on Ian Freeman and other Free Staters for over a decade. The FBI targeted Ian Freeman in at least 2012, 2016, and 2021. The 2012 incident involved an arrest of Rich Paul over small time drug dealing (Mr Nobody of the Crypto6 case) for the purposes of blackmailing him into wearing a wire into the Keene activist center (of which were connected to Ian Freeman). The 2016 case involved a smear campaign and a false affidavit where a warrant was obtained for a search over a despicable crime that hadn’t occurred in an effort to ruin Ian’s reputation and undermine the ability of Free Talk Live to continue. It was also an attempt at dividing the Free Sate Project community in two and undermining its effectiveness at bringing like-minded pro-freedom pro-peace individuals to New Hampshire. The Free State Project can be summarized as a migration effort to build a community of peaceful people in one state that can achieve real freedom somewhere. No evidence was ever found on any of more than two dozen devices seized in 2016 and no charges were ever filed. Then in 2021 the Crypto6 case was brought despite the individuals targeted being excessively compliant with the law.
Aria’s sentence will begin June 27 and give her time to officiate a wedding.
After the sentencing hearing Aria was greeted by about ~50 supporters and when asked about her thoughts on the sentence she said she believed “having a license wouldn’t have achieved anything”. Another cryptocurrency vending machine operator in the audience with over 20 machines agreed with her assessment calling the sentence unfair. Others thought this case to be yet another travesty of the so called justice system and yet another fraud on the public. What happens in court doesn’t matter so long as the prosecution tells a good story and judges and juries continue to be carefully crafted to favor prosecutors. Most prosecutors including judge La Plante in this case are former prosecutors. Out of 36 members (after eliminating others from the pool) the prosecutor removed the only juror who had ever touched Bitcoin.
For more detailed updates, video, and more regarding the ongoing Crypto6 case and Ian Freeman’s appeal of his conviction check out TheCrypto6.com
A detailed run down of what happened during Aria’s sentencing hearing
Prosecutor
Aframe & Kennedy
Aria elects to continue despite lawyer’s motion to delay as a result of freemans trial
Judge talks about sentencing guidelines and not having to obey them
Defense
Objections to PSR (pre-sentcing report done by the probation department) do not directly involve freeman case and are not connected to Aria
Judge
Offense level is 19
Criminal History Level 1
This is the bottom of the scale
30-37 months is the range according to the sentencing guideline
Fine is $10-100k + $100 special assessment fee
Aria is requesting a downward variance from these guidelines
The prosecutor is not requesting anything different from the guidelines
Justice here requires a more lenient sentence than the guidelines state
Prosecutor
Makes a point of the importance of the offense and argues it’s not just a mere regulatory offense as the defense argues
This is an oversimplification and selling crypto is dangerous if done outside of regulatory controls
DiMezzo operated over several months without controls
[ this is actually false in that both Aria and Ian complied with the regulations, and thus this is only a sentence for not being registered as a money transmitter, Aria did more KYC, or followed the know your customer procedures than did the banks of which were actually involved in transmitting money unlike that of Aria ]
This is more significant just not having a license
[ Aria didn’t please guilty to more than not being registered and the government is trying to bring in things that had nothing to do with Aria’s plea agreement, potentially violating the very agreement which would open the doors to her being able to back out of said plea agreement and take the case to trial ]
She kept photos of victims
[ the humorous part of this is that by following the law and performing KYC you are required to keep copies of the drivers licenses and passports which means the government is claiming that by following the law Aria broke the law as they are trying to twist KYC documents like copies of drivers licenses and signed contracts by the ‘victims’ stating that they understand that they are buying Bitcoin alongside a picture of the document and themselves, thus trying to argue these folks are victims, particularly of Aria is absurd, the victims lied to Aria when questions were asked as part of the KYC process to try and stop third party scammers from taking advantage of vulnerable folks, but when vulnerable folks partake in the scams themselves there is little a seller of crypto or a bank can do to stop it ]
Photos from Ian’s computer and Aria’s phone had some of the same photos
[ this is largely correct because the Shire Free Church had more sales than it could keep up with and thus referred smaller customers over to the Reformed Satanic Temple that Aria was selling crypto on behalf of ]
She was a conduit
[ yea, and on that logic so was the bank, but you aren’t prosecuting the bank, of which none did KYC according to your own witnesses, KYC may not work in all cases, and it did not work in a handful of cases here, but this is also out of 6,000 transactions that the FBI found 7-8 victims between 2 different organizations, that isn’t a bad track record, it’s an unbelievably impressive track record ]
“intentional local blindness”
[ intentional or willful blindness is a concept where you ignore evidence that a crime is being committed by a third party and sell to them anyway- this didn’t happen and the evidence presented during Ian’s trial actually showed that at least Ian refused to sell to an undercover FBI agent pretending to a drug dealer … but actually following the law doesn’t matter.. the scummy eastern european federal agent just got up on the stand and said, something to the effect of he may not have said he would sell to be, but he gave me a wink and a nod, now that was despite when questioned admitting no such wink and a nod occurred, nor was there any evidence of such a wink and nod occuring in a figurative manor as the undercover agent went around Ian to one of the Shire Free Churches vending machines and it wasn’t until the trial that Ian learned that the guy purchased what I believe was about $20,000 of cryptocurrency through the vending machine, this is the undercover agent never told Ian he was going to purchase Bitcoin from the vending machine, and Ian had no means of stopping him even if he had said he was going to do this… the vending machines are not Ians and they are the Shire Free Church.. even had he known what could he have done? Call up the business where the church rented space and ask them to tackle a man who looked like a big eastern european gang member? The jury completely ignored the knowing requirement in the law given Ian didn’t knowingly sell to the man ]
She made prosecutions hard… she would not find out what people were using Bitcoin for
[ this is just false in that questions were asked where red flags existed and every one of the victims at Ian’s trial was called by Ian and the so called victims testified to that… and spoken with to ensure that there were no misunderstanding or risks such as there being coercion by a third party or romance situation where the significant other had never met … and as these KYC procedures were followed the government actually has the photos and IDs of the scammers yet refuses according to the victims to go after the fraudsters despite knowing who they are .. Ian and Aria did not make it difficult for the feds to investigate… they did their job for them… ]
“don’t ever sell to anyone who tells you their business”
[ this is more or less what Aria said in a presentation on selling Bitcoin she gave… it was taken out of context as Aria and Ian did do KYC and were doing more than they were required to under the law … and in context to the presentation it’s simply that if you sell crypto to someone that is committing a crime the government will argue you have broken the law… it’s not that Ian or Aria weren’t doing KYC, but didn’t want to deal with potentially problem customers, not that they didn’t do KYC or ask any questions as would be required had they actually been obligated to do KYC in the first place which they weren’t as the law also says that businesses for profit, not churches or charitable organizations must register and do KYC, but despite that the churches did do KYC even though they did not register, thus regulatory violation is what Aria pleaded guilty to, not anything else, particularly not fraud ]
She continues to not understand the callus way she operated her business
[ we should talk about the callus way in which you are prosecuting an innocent person… but no she was no callus in the way the church raised money for charitable causes by selling crypto and took more steps to ensure people didn’t become victims of scams even though it was NOT her business what anyone did with their crypto … I don’t ask my customers what they do with their computers that are purchased from my company and it’s not that different here .. they might use them in illegal ways but I’d only be obligated to do something if I had reason to believe they were committing a crime .. Bitcoin is not money as it was defined under the law at the time this fundraising was ongoing and it wasn’t until after the FBI raid in 2021 that the federal government changed the law which still probably doesn’t include Bitcoin ]
They play an audio clip of Free Talk Live, a show Aria co-hosts where she criticizes the federal government and the agents: “Moral of story is if you want to make money and not get in trouble you need to scam people. They want the scammers to exist.”
[ they are trying to take this out of context and make it out as if Aria is advocating people scam others rather than sell crypto ? ]
She put head in sand blaming the victim
[ this is an exaggeration, but the so-called victims DID actually participate in scamming others in that at least one person during Ian’s trail testified that he would receive money from others and send it onward to the scammer and another so-called victim stated that he was told he was engaged in money laundering as one bank split up with him.. despite this he continued doing it .. unlike what Aria was doing which was ONLY selling a product and not money transmission .. and despite that doing KYC when it wasn’t required under the law as it was written at the time ]
Her background is neither plus nor minus
[ basically her childhood upbringing wasn’t great and this is what defense lawyers do at sentencing as such things are mitigating factors at sentencing .. but of course the prosecutor wants the judge to ignore it ]
This was a way to make money
It’s a business crime, a financial crime
[ that wasn’t the case and as Ian’s case demonstrated 85% of the dollars that went into church accounts according to the governments own witnesses went back into purchasing bitcoin which makes sense if you are selling bitcoin for charity… and then there was other evidence that demonstrated that the money went to charitable causes like building orphanages in Africa and local causes such as converting a house into a mosque for a minority religious community in Keene .. and at no time did the prosecutor present any evidence as to what the money was used for which is pretty important if you are going to argue that it was a business venture of some kind as that is written in the law … doing it without charging a fee as a hobby is also not within the scope of the law as written just as doing it for charity is not in the scope of the law as written ]
Virtual currencies need to be used appropriately and we need to send that message
[ this is disgusting… the idea that they get to tell you and I what we can and can’t do with our own money… but it’s even more disgusting in that they want to treat bitcoin different than how we treat cash … have you ever been asked by a bank what you are going to do with the cash you withdraw from the ATM machine? Of course not.. yet this is what they’re claiming is required under KYC despite their own witness, a credit union lady, testifying that you DO NOT have to go over every transaction with a fine tooth comb which means the banks were not even failing in their KYC obligations when they allowed victims to be victimized … KYC doesn’t work … even when you go overboard as was the case with the Crypto6 cases ]
Defense
Prosecutor acknowledged acceptance of conviction
– no fraud on aria’s part
– aria didn’t cause any losses
– aria cooperated with government and provided the government access to devices with bitcoin worth $50-60k
– she recognizes that despite lack of knowledge of scams
– she wanted the money to compensate victims
– there was no violence involved here
– there were no drugs involved here
It’s a regulatory offense that involves no fraud
No money laundering charges exist here
It’s also not beyond dispute that it is regulated or not
[ aww yea, each state government and 3 letter agency claims it is something different ]
They try to connect Ian and Aria based on IDs
If you were engaged in fraud you wouldn’t keep this information and she preserved everything
As misguided as she was about licensing she was not out to defraud anyone
The guidelines are misleading because no losses occurred
Normally they are used when someone is unjustly enriched
This is not a case with a loss or restitution
36 transactions with no prior criminal record
She grew up in a very impoverished area and courts recognize experiences in childhood are mitigating circumstances as children do not control their surroundings
She lives in a rental unit, works at dominos, and not someone who stole 3 million dollars
She is no threat to the public
The only reason to incarcerate her is as a deterrence to others
Prosecutor
$30k Aria made from selling crypto
[ no evidence of this actually exists and was pointed out it’s entirely speculative, but not relevant either way ]
Defense
She did no knowingly facilitate scammers
[ keyword in the law here is knowingly, not all laws have a knowingly component, but this one does ]
With a straw purchase (gun sales where someone buys a gun for someone else who is a criminal) the straw purchaser knows they are facilitating gang members.
[ this is is important because the prosecution brought up straw purchases in gun cases to suggest it doesn’t matter if Aria knows or not, but it does actually matter and it’s not a proper analogy as she didn’t know about ANY sale that was going to enable scammers ]
Aria makes a statement:
I did not know or think it was suspicious
It’s not Ian’s fault
In regard to clip I was not trying to help criminals
I wanted to bring down the banking system as privacy is valuable
I don’t ask the person I have cut my grass what they intend to do with payment
[ this is important because it’s dependent on how Bitcoin is defined whether or not you have to comply with money transmission laws and the regulators don’t get to decide this.. the law is unclear… but what everyone agrees on is Bitcoin is not like anything that has come before suggesting it requires legislation if it is to be defined as money… this is almost certainly one of the things that are going to be appealed as this is a matter of law and the judge ruled on it before the trial without understanding what Bitcoin was… calling the blockchain a person… and then instructing the jury it is money when it has not been clearly established under the law as such… there may be other issues here in the the law is overly broad and that might be another issue upon which an appeal can be based ]
Judge
I am going to grant a downward variance, but the sentence will include incarceration.
18 months [cage time]
I will not take into consideration a shred of evidence from the Freeman trial
It was a regulatory crime
This crime is a crime to protect the integrity of the financial system
General deterrence makes sense
[ the judge is saying here that the only reason he is putting her in a cage is to send a message and not because of what she did ]
Judge says she can self report
Defense
Lawyer chimes up and reserves right to appeal
[ Judge is curious on the basis of that appeal ]
The sentence has a procedure and substances defect
It’s out of proportion to the crime committed
The court has been influences by allegations of fraud
Judge
18 months cage time + 1 year supervised release
$100 special assessment fee
$5,000 fine, which is half of the guideline range
[ this is positive as it means she gets a downward variance on the fine and the time served ]
Aria must post $2,500 within 60 days of sentencing
Aria must self report June 17th … something about so that Aria can attend a weeding it sounded like.
Judge will put in a recommendation for a Massachusetts or Connecticut federal prison per request by the defense
If you’ve got this far you’re probably a dedicated fan of the Crypto6 and the freedoms we’re all fighting for. Consider making a contribution to the independence filmmakers who are currently working on part 2 of a 2 part fundraiser to produce a documentary on the Crypto6. They’ve been actively filming and working on said documentary for a few years now. Check out sneak peaks and take the time to make a contribution at:
https://balladofthecrypto6.com/
Aria’s Sentencing Hearing
Prosecutor
Aframe & Kennedy
Aria elects to continue despite lawyer’s motion to delay as a result of freemans trial
Judge talks about sentencing guidelines and not having to obey them
Defense
Objections to PSR (pre-sentcing report done by the probation department) do not directly involve freeman case and are not connected to Aria
Judge
Offense level is 19
Criminal History Level 1
This is the bottom of the scale
30-37 months is the range according to the sentencing guideline
Fine is $10-100k + $100 special assessment fee
Aria is requesting a downward variance from these guidelines
The prosecutor is not requesting anything different from the guidelines
Justice here requires a more lenient sentence than the guidelines state
Prosecutor
Makes a point of the importance of the offense and argues it’s not just a mere regulatory offense as the defense argues
This is an oversimplification and selling crypto is dangerous if done outside of regulatory controls
DiMezzo operated over several months without controls
[ this is actually false in that both Aria and Ian complied with the regulations, and thus this is only a sentence for not being registered as a money transmitter, Aria did more KYC, or followed the know your customer procedures than did the banks of which were actually involved in transmitting money unlike that of Aria ]
This is more significant just not having a license
[ Aria didn’t please guilty to more than not being registered and the government is trying to bring in things that had nothing to do with Aria’s plea agreement, potentially violating the very agreement which would open the doors to her being able to back out of said plea agreement and take the case to trial ]
She kept photos of victims
[ the humorous part of this is that by following the law and performing KYC you are required to keep copies of the drivers licenses and passports which means the government is claiming that by following the law Aria broke the law as they are trying to twist KYC documents like copies of drivers licenses and signed contracts by the ‘victims’ stating that they understand that they are buying Bitcoin alongside a picture of the document and themselves, thus trying to argue these folks are victims, particularly of Aria is absurd, the victims lied to Aria when questions were asked as part of the KYC process to try and stop third party scammers from taking advantage of vulnerable folks, but when vulnerable folks partake in the scams themselves there is little a seller of crypto or a bank can do to stop it ]
Photos from Ian’s computer and Aria’s phone had some of the same photos
[ this is largely correct because the Shire Free Church had more sales than it could keep up with and thus referred smaller customers over to the Reformed Satanic Temple that Aria was selling crypto on behalf of ]
She was a conduit
[ yea, and on that logic so was the bank, but you aren’t prosecuting the bank, of which none did KYC according to your own witnesses, KYC may not work in all cases, and it did not work in a handful of cases here, but this is also out of 6,000 transactions that the FBI found 7-8 victims between 2 different organizations, that isn’t a bad track record, it’s an unbelievably impressive track record ]
“intentional local blindness”
[ intentional or willful blindness is a concept where you ignore evidence that a crime is being committed by a third party and sell to them anyway- this didn’t happen and the evidence presented during Ian’s trial actually showed that at least Ian refused to sell to an undercover FBI agent pretending to a drug dealer … but actually following the law doesn’t matter.. the scummy eastern european federal agent just got up on the stand and said, something to the effect of he may not have said he would sell to be, but he gave me a wink and a nod, now that was despite when questioned admitting no such wink and a nod occurred, nor was there any evidence of such a wink and nod occuring in a figurative manor as the undercover agent went around Ian to one of the Shire Free Churches vending machines and it wasn’t until the trial that Ian learned that the guy purchased what I believe was about $20,000 of cryptocurrency through the vending machine, this is the undercover agent never told Ian he was going to purchase Bitcoin from the vending machine, and Ian had no means of stopping him even if he had said he was going to do this… the vending machines are not Ians and they are the Shire Free Church.. even had he known what could he have done? Call up the business where the church rented space and ask them to tackle a man who looked like a big eastern european gang member? The jury completely ignored the knowing requirement in the law given Ian didn’t knowingly sell to the man ]
She made prosecutions hard… she would not find out what people were using Bitcoin for
[ this is just false in that questions were asked where red flags existed and every one of the victims at Ian’s trial was called by Ian and the so called victims testified to that… and spoken with to ensure that there were no misunderstanding or risks such as there being coercion by a third party or romance situation where the significant other had never met … and as these KYC procedures were followed the government actually has the photos and IDs of the scammers yet refuses according to the victims to go after the fraudsters despite knowing who they are .. Ian and Aria did not make it difficult for the feds to investigate… they did their job for them… ]
“don’t ever sell to anyone who tells you their business”
[ this is more or less what Aria said in a presentation on selling Bitcoin she gave… it was taken out of context as Aria and Ian did do KYC and were doing more than they were required to under the law … and in context to the presentation it’s simply that if you sell crypto to someone that is committing a crime the government will argue you have broken the law… it’s not that Ian or Aria weren’t doing KYC, but didn’t want to deal with potentially problem customers, not that they didn’t do KYC or ask any questions as would be required had they actually been obligated to do KYC in the first place which they weren’t as the law also says that businesses for profit, not churches or charitable organizations must register and do KYC, but despite that the churches did do KYC even though they did not register, thus regulatory violation is what Aria pleaded guilty to, not anything else, particularly not fraud ]
She continues to not understand the callus way she operated her business
[ we should talk about the callus way in which you are prosecuting an innocent person… but no she was no callus in the way the church raised money for charitable causes by selling crypto and took more steps to ensure people didn’t become victims of scams even though it was NOT her business what anyone did with their crypto … I don’t ask my customers what they do with their computers that are purchased from my company and it’s not that different here .. they might use them in illegal ways but I’d only be obligated to do something if I had reason to believe they were committing a crime .. Bitcoin is not money as it was defined under the law at the time this fundraising was ongoing and it wasn’t until after the FBI raid in 2021 that the federal government changed the law which still probably doesn’t include Bitcoin ]
They play an audio clip of Free Talk Live, a show Aria co-hosts where she criticizes the federal government and the agents: “Moral of story is if you want to make money and not get in trouble you need to scam people. They want the scammers to exist.”
[ they are trying to take this out of context and make it out as if Aria is advocating people scam others rather than sell crypto ? ]
She put head in sand blaming the victim
[ this is an exaggeration, but the so-called victims DID actually participate in scamming others in that at least one person during Ian’s trail testified that he would receive money from others and send it onward to the scammer and another so-called victim stated that he was told he was engaged in money laundering as one bank split up with him.. despite this he continued doing it .. unlike what Aria was doing which was ONLY selling a product and not money transmission .. and despite that doing KYC when it wasn’t required under the law as it was written at the time ]
Her background is neither plus nor minus
[ basically her childhood upbringing wasn’t great and this is what defense lawyers do at sentencing as such things are mitigating factors at sentencing .. but of course the prosecutor wants the judge to ignore it ]
This was a way to make money
It’s a business crime, a financial crime
[ that wasn’t the case and as Ian’s case demonstrated 85% of the dollars that went into church accounts according to the governments own witnesses went back into purchasing bitcoin which makes sense if you are selling bitcoin for charity… and then there was other evidence that demonstrated that the money went to charitable causes like building orphanages in Africa and local causes such as converting a house into a mosque for a minority religious community in Keene .. and at no time did the prosecutor present any evidence as to what the money was used for which is pretty important if you are going to argue that it was a business venture of some kind as that is written in the law … doing it without charging a fee as a hobby is also not within the scope of the law as written just as doing it for charity is not in the scope of the law as written ]
Virtual currencies need to be used appropriately and we need to send that message
[ this is disgusting… the idea that they get to tell you and I what we can and can’t do with our own money… but it’s even more disgusting in that they want to treat bitcoin different than how we treat cash … have you ever been asked by a bank what you are going to do with the cash you withdraw from the ATM machine? Of course not.. yet this is what they’re claiming is required under KYC despite their own witness, a credit union lady, testifying that you DO NOT have to go over every transaction with a fine tooth comb which means the banks were not even failing in their KYC obligations when they allowed victims to be victimized … KYC doesn’t work … even when you go overboard as was the case with the Crypto6 cases ]
Defense
Prosecutor acknowledged acceptance of conviction
– no fraud on aria’s part
– aria didn’t cause any losses
– aria cooperated with government and provided the government access to devices with bitcoin worth $50-60k
– she recognizes that despite lack of knowledge of scams
– she wanted the money to compensate victims
– there was no violence involved here
– there were no drugs involved here
It’s a regulatory offense that involves no fraud
No money laundering charges exist here
It’s also not beyond dispute that it is regulated or not
[ aww yea, each state government and 3 letter agency claims it is something different ]
They try to connect Ian and Aria based on IDs
If you were engaged in fraud you wouldn’t keep this information and she preserved everything
As misguided as she was about licensing she was not out to defraud anyone
The guidelines are misleading because no losses occurred
Normally they are used when someone is unjustly enriched
This is not a case with a loss or restitution
36 transactions with no prior criminal record
She grew up in a very impoverished area and courts recognize experiences in childhood are mitigating circumstances as children do not control their surroundings
She lives in a rental unit, works at dominos, and not someone who stole 3 million dollars
She is no threat to the public
The only reason to incarcerate her is as a deterrence to others
Prosecutor
$30k Aria made from selling crypto
[ no evidence of this actually exists and was pointed out it’s entirely speculative, but not relevant either way ]
Defense
She did no knowingly facilitate scammers
[ keyword in the law here is knowingly, not all laws have a knowingly component, but this one does ]
With a straw purchase (gun sales where someone buys a gun for someone else who is a criminal) the straw purchaser knows they are facilitating gang members.
[ this is is important because the prosecution brought up straw purchases in gun cases to suggest it doesn’t matter if Aria knows or not, but it does actually matter and it’s not a proper analogy as she didn’t know about ANY sale that was going to enable scammers ]
Aria makes a statement:
I did not know or think it was suspicious
It’s not Ian’s fault
In regard to clip I was not trying to help criminals
I wanted to bring down the banking system as privacy is valuable
I don’t ask the person I have cut my grass what they intend to do with payment
[ this is important because it’s dependent on how Bitcoin is defined whether or not you have to comply with money transmission laws and the regulators don’t get to decide this.. the law is unclear… but what everyone agrees on is Bitcoin is not like anything that has come before suggesting it requires legislation if it is to be defined as money… this is almost certainly one of the things that are going to be appealed as this is a matter of law and the judge ruled on it before the trial without understanding what Bitcoin was… calling the blockchain a person… and then instructing the jury it is money when it has not been clearly established under the law as such… there may be other issues here in the the law is overly broad and that might be another issue upon which an appeal can be based ]
Judge
I am going to grant a downward variance, but the sentence will include incarceration.
18 months [cage time]
I will not take into consideration a shred of evidence from the Freeman trial
It was a regulatory crime
This crime is a crime to protect the integrity of the financial system
General deterrence makes sense
[ the judge is saying here that the only reason he is putting her in a cage is to send a message and not because of what she did ]
Judge says she can self report
Defense
Lawyer chimes up and reserves right to appeal
[ Judge is curious on the basis of that appeal ]
The sentence has a procedure and substances defect
It’s out of proportion to the crime committed
The court has been influences by allegations of fraud
Judge
18 months cage time + 1 year supervised release
$100 special assessment fee
$5,000 fine, which is half of the guideline range
[ this is positive as it means she gets a downward variance on the fine and the time served ]
Aria must post $2,500 within 60 days of sentencing
Aria must self report June 17th … something about so that Aria can attend a weeding it sounded like.
Judge will put in a recommendation for a Massachusetts or Connecticut federal prison per request by the defense
If you’ve got this far you’re probably a dedicated fan of the Crypto6 and the freedoms we’re all fighting for. Consider making a contribution to the independence filmmakers who are currently working on part 2 of a 2 part fundraiser to produce a documentary on the Crypto6. They’ve been actively filming and working on said documentary for a few years now. Check out sneak peaks and take the time to make a contribution at:
https://balladofthecrypto6.com/
Government has been turned upside down. It no longer exists for the people, but rather for the government. And I’m not just a part time conspiracy theorist (isn’t everyone nowadays if you don’t buy the mainstream B.S.?). I moonlight as a N.H. State Representative, as well. Figured the extra $100 a year could really pad the retirement account.
The post N.H. General Court Needs to Uphold Its Constitutional Duties to The People appeared first on The Liberty Block.
Two bills that would expand the eligibility of New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Accounts have passed the House and will have public hearings in the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday morning. In 2021, the state created the EFA program, which allows parents to receive some tax dollars back to be used on education for their children if their income is triple the federal poverty limit or below
The post Education Freedom Bills Pass House, Now In Senate appeared first on The Liberty Block.
Of the 24 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 3 and opposition of 1 with 0 being of interest.
Of the 17 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 6 and opposition of 6 with 0 being of interest.
| Position | Bill | Title | Committee | Day | Time | Room | State Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | HB367 | relative to eligibility of students in the education freedom account program. | Education | Tue 4/25 | 9:00 AM | LOB Room 101 | This bill increases the household income level based on the federal poverty guidelines for the eligibility of students to participate in the education freedom account program. |
| Support | HB464 | relative to eligible students in the education freedom account program. | Education | Tue 4/25 | 9:30 AM | LOB Room 101 | This bill expands the definition of who is an eligible student qualifying under the education freedom accounts program. |
| Support | HB174 | relative to the filing of notice of intent to cut timber. | Energy and Natural Resources | Tue 4/25 | 9:00 AM | SH Room 103 | This bill enables a land owner to cut timber in certain cases where they have not received a response to the notice of intent to cut timber. This bill also makes it a violation for assessing officials to fail to forward a notice to cut to the department of revenue administration in a timely fashion. |
| Support | SB162 | relative to exemptions from rabies vaccinations for dogs, cats, and ferrets. | Environment and Agriculture | Tue 4/25 | 9:00 AM | LOB Room 301-303 | This bill makes the initial period for an exemption from the rabies vaccination for dogs, cats, and animals annual with the recertification of a veterinarian. |
| Support | HB156 | relative to misconduct by a law enforcement officer. | Judiciary | Tue 4/25 | 1:15 PM | SH Room 100 | This bill adds intentional misrepresentation to the definition of misconduct by a law enforcement officer. |
| Support | HB491 | relative to prohibiting the use of the prone restraint for minors. | Judiciary | Tue 4/25 | 1:30 PM | SH Room 100 | This bill prohibits the use of prone restraint on a child in a school or treatment facility. |
| Support | SB119 | relative to criminal background checks for charitable games of chance license applicants. | Ways and Means | Tue 4/25 | 2:00 PM | LOB Room 202-204 | This bill exempts members of charitable organizations who do not participate directly in the operation of games of chance from background and criminal records checks. |
| Oppose | SB180 | (New Title) relative to product labeling and information guide requirements for cannabis products and the prohibition of the sale of hemp products containing certain levels of THC. | Commerce and Consumer Affairs | Wed 4/26 | 10:00 AM | LOB Room 302-304 | This bill empowers the therapeutic cannabis oversight board to regulate and review the labels and educational materials of cannabis materials. This bill also prohibits the sale of hemp products containing certain amounts of THC. |
| Support | HB337 | relative to directing the office of professional licensure and certification to provide notice of public meetings and an opportunity for comment from the public. | Executive Departments and Administration | Wed 4/26 | 9:00 AM | SH Room 103 | This bill directs the office of professional licensure and certification to provide to the public notice of its meetings and an opportunity to comment in such meetings. |
| Support | SB105 | relative to information collected by the division of vital records administration as part of the live birth worksheet. | Executive Departments and Administration | Wed 4/26 | 11:30 AM | LOB Room 306-308 | This bill removes the criminal penalty for information requested on the mother’s birth worksheet that is not required for the birth certificate; provides that only de-identified information shall be submitted on the facility worksheet for a live birth; and repeals the requirement that the birth worksheet be retained permanently. |
The post Bill Hearings for Week of April 24, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
New Hampshire Independence PAC Chairman Matt Sabourin dit Choinière was this week’s guest on “Free State Live”, the weekly video show hosted by Free State Project movers and liberty-loving NH natives. Of course, they discussed peaceful NH independence. Watch the full episode here:
Pro-Independence Rep Matt Santonastaso RE-ELECTED!
Earlier this year, the historic NH Independence constitutional amendment, CACR 32, was voted on in the state house. Thirteen brave state representatives stood in favor of allowing the people of NH to vote on declaring peaceful independence from the United States, which is all the bill would have done – simply let the people vote.
New Hampshire gets a lot of credit for having a thriving liberty activism migration here and many elected libertarians serving in the legislature as the “Freedom Caucus”. So, why did so many freedom-oriented state reps hide in the shadows on the CACR 32 vote? They privately would support independence, but these reps were too cowardly to show their true colors. A major objection from them was that secession isn’t popular, but the scientific polling done by the Foundation for NH Independence over the summer blew that fear out of the water, showing that nearly one-in-three Granite Staters and over 50% of NH republicans already support New Hampshire being an independent nation.
The other major objection from the reps who otherwise should have supported this issue was fear of not getting re-elected. Now we have the indisputable proof that this fear was also unfounded. Though it’s true that most of the NH population isn’t ready to secede, that doesn’t mean they don’t support putting it to a vote. According to the FNHI polling, 42% support putting the question of NH independence to voters, with 12% unsure. Still, most politicians aren’t known for their leadership and courage, so now they can look at the brave thirteen state reps who were willing to take the arrows from the loyalists to the Empire. Let’s take a look at what happened with those thirteen reps, and why it’s a success story for the NH Exit movement.
Of the thirteen reps who heroically voted in favor of CACR 32, several decided not to run again: Mark Warden, Raymond Howard, Dennis Green, Dustin Dodge, and Alan Bershstein. Of the eight running for re-election, three didn’t make it through the primary: The Seacoast’s Max Abramson who barely got defeated by 54 votes, or just over 1%. There’s no indication that his support of independence played a role in his narrow defeat. In the Lakes Region, longtime reps Glen Aldrich and CACR 32’s main sponsor Mike Sylvia lost handily to their republican opponents. However, Sylvia himself and other election observers attributed their losses to the Gunstock Mountain situation where they were targeted politically from the left and right for trying to de-fund and probably ultimately sell the state-owned ski area. That left five of the eight pro-independence reps who were seeking re-election, advancing to the primary.
All five were successfully re-elected! The big race to watch was Rindge state rep Matt Santonastaso. Santonastaso was a key leader with CACR 32 and was targeted heavily by the democrats for his support of NH independence. He doesn’t just want people to be able to vote on it, he’s a strong advocate for New Hampshire’s peaceful divorce from the United States. Every newspaper article I saw about him labeled him as a secessionist, even in the headlines. He won re-election, along with reps Glenn Bailey, Diane Kelley, Paul Terry, and Josh Yokela. Plus they gained at least one newly elected first-time representative, Jason Gerhard, who was endorsed by the newly-formed NH Independence PAC.
Empire Loyalist Brodie Deshaies, was DEFEATED in the primary!
The NHIPAC will surely be reaching out to the other new and returning liberty-oriented state reps – of which there were a record number elected this year, including a record 50 free staters – to see who is willing to go on the record in favor of freedom from the United States.The state reps who had excuses before will probably still have excuses the next time legislation like CACR 32 comes up, but now they can’t claim they won’t win re-election or that no one supports independence, because those are simply fear-based and not the reality on-the-ground in New Hampshire. The popularity of peaceful secession is only going to increase as the federal government continues to ratchet up the tyranny no mater which political party is running it.
What’s next for NH independence? The newly elected and re-elected state reps have a couple of weeks to file legislation for the upcoming 2023 session that kicks off this winter. What secession-related bills will be filed this time? Stay tuned here to NHexit.US for the latest, and don’t forget to sign the petition if you haven’t yet.
P.S. Goodbye to the federal government’s loyalist rep, Brodie Deshaies – the young pro-tyranny state rep from Wolfeboro who was the key spokesman against CACR 32 in the state house. Deshaies didn’t make it through the primary! Of course a new loyalist to the Empire will rise to take his place the next time the state house debates NH independence, but the loyalists never have any argument except appeals to violence and “authority”.