Man pleads guilty to writing fake checks to state treasury

Had called himself a sovereign citizen

A Macomb County man already serving time in prison now finds himself in more trouble with authorities.

Damon Montgomery pleaded guilty last week to attempting to pay his state tax bill with three phony $1 million checks that bounced, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.

Montgomery, 54, of Warren, claims he is a sovereign citizen and exempt from certain Michigan law, including paying taxes.

“Taxes pay for our schools, our roads, and our government services,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Wednesday in a statement. “Cheating on taxes hurts everyone and is fundamentally unfair to everyone else who abides by the law.”

According to the AG’s office, Montgomery tried to pay the Michigan Department of Treasury with the fraudulent checks.

As a result he was charged with three counts of no-account checks, which are felonies punishable by up to two years in prison or a $500 fine for each count.

Montgomery sent the checks to the treasury department in January 2021 in an attempt to pay his taxes. Each contained TCF Bank routing numbers and was made payable to the State of Michigan for $1 million The checks bounced because Montgomery did not have an account at TCF Bank.

Sentencing will be held Jan. 25, 2023, in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing.

Authorities won’t have much trouble finding Montgomery. In September, he was sentenced to serve 24 months in the Michigan Department of Corrections on weapons charges and being a felon in possession of ammunition, according to court records.

According to Macomb County Circuit Court records, Judge Matthew Sabaugh gave him credit for 400 days served.

MDOC records show he has convictions for several low-level felonies in Macomb and Wayne counties, including an uttering and publishing, obtaining money over $100 using false pretenses, assault with a dangerous weapon, and operating a chop shop.