9 Investigates: 'Sovereign citizens' costing taxpayers millions

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County deputies were called to a Publix store at the intersection of Hoffner Avenue and Conway Road on Feb.  8.

When deputies pulled into the parking lot they encountered Joseph Paffen, 46, a self-described "sovereign citizen."

Paffen opened fire on the deputies, hitting one and injuring another. Deputies returned fire, killing Paffen.

Violent incidents, like the shootout in the parking lot of an Orange County Publix, are often the result of the views of those who identify as sovereign citizens, meaning that they do not recognize government authority. 

On its webpage, the FBI writes: "A closer look at sovereign citizens' more severe crimes, from financial scams to impersonating or threatening law enforcement officials, gives reason for concern."

In its counterterrorism section, the FBI describes sovereign citizens as "a growing domestic threat to law enforcement," saying their actions toward law enforcement "make it a group that should be approached with knowledge and caution."

Violent confrontations in Central Florida with sovereign citizens remain rare. However, their actions are of concern and costly.

"You cannot record all these goofy documents that are brought in," Brevard County Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis said. "Our biggest problem is people trying to record things that cannot be recorded."

On a weekly basis, Ellis and his clerks encounter people associated with the sovereign citizen movement attempting to file paperwork. Ellis said some are innocuous while other documents, such as bogus liens, can cause real problems if they make it into the court system.

"We tell them the judge isn't going to look at it, but we still have to accept it," Ellis said.

Housing and Urban Development estimates in the last four years, sovereign citizens have cost the government $17 million in the form of bogus liens and deeds.

"It is impossible to know how many sovereigns there are in the U.S. today, in part because there is no central leadership and no organized group that members can join," the Southern Poverty Law Center, which considers sovereign citizens an extremist group, said.

Across Central Florida, law enforcement agencies and clerk's offices have increased training on how to deal with sovereign citizens. In Orange County, publications from the Anti-Defamation League and the FBI are used to educate employees about how to handle encounters with sovereign citizens.

"She gave us everything she had," Ellis said, describing an encounter with a young woman who came to the clerk's office to surrender her personal identifying documents. "She was giving us all her documents, her driver's license, passport, birth certificate (and) her high school diploma. (She) brought all the documents to us. She said, 'I was told I need to bring these documents and turn them in to you because I want to disassociate myself of being a citizen of the United States.'"

Local leaders say the Internet has made the problem worse, increasing the number of people aligning with the sovereign citizen movement.

"Somebody gives them bad information and people fall for it. They get bad information and they say if you can disassociate yourself from the United States, then you can be unincorporated from the body corporate," Ellis said.