Crime Time

'Sovereign citizen' accused of plotting to kill federal judge in Fort Worth

An Arlington man awaiting trial on accusations of filing false tax returns told a fellow inmate he was a sovereign citizen and therefore immune from all laws of the United States.

The government, however, will prosecute Phillip Monroe Ballard, 71, on another accusation: plotting the murder of the federal judge presiding over his tax case.

The other inmate and a FBI agent posing as the hit man thwarted the plot last week, federal officials said Monday in a news release.

Ballard, who was scheduled to go on trial Monday on the tax charges, was charged with soliciting the murder for hire of U.S. District Judge John McBryde, either by sniper or car bomb, according to court documents.

Read more in this report by Domingo Ramirez Jr.

'Squeaky' Fromme released from federal custody in Fort Worth

Would-be presidential assassin Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was released from federal custody Friday at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

You may recall that in 1975, the follower of Charles Manson was convicted of pointing a gun at then-President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, Calif.

-- Lance Murray

CNN: 'Squeaky' Fromme to be paroled from Fort Worth federal facility

A well-known resident of the Federal Medical Center at Carswell here in Fort Worth is set to be released on parole from prison on Aug. 16, CNN is reporting.

Lynne "Squeaky" Fromme, 60, who was imprisoned in 1975 after she attempted to assassinate then-president Gerald Ford in Sacramento, Calif.

Fromme, was a follower of Charles Manson.

-- Lance Murray

Man who shot George Wallace in '72 leaves prison

The man who shot and paralyzed presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972 during a campaign stop in Laurel, Md., has done his time.

Arthur Bremer, 57, walked quietly out of prison on Friday.

Bremer simply reached through a crowd that day to shoot the segregationist governor of Alabama, paralyzing Wallace.

Bremer granted no interviews and has no intention of doing any in the future, officials said.

-- Lance Murray