
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 5, 1995                   TAG: 9511060119
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: GOLDEN, COLO.                                LENGTH: Short

2 GET PRISON FOR FRAUD SCHEME

Two men involved in the anti-government We the People group, including its leader, have been sentenced to prison for theft and securities fraud.

Members allegedly told people nationwide the group had won a $600 trillion class-action lawsuit against the federal government for abandoning the gold standard in 1933, and that the riches would be distributed to anybody who paid a $300 filing fee.

We the People, based in Fort Collins, collected more than $2 million from duped investors nationwide, prosecutors said.

The leader of the group, Roy Schwasinger, 61, of Fort Collins, was sentenced Friday in state court to nine years in prison. Gary Widman, 51, of Parker was sentenced to four years. They were convicted Oct. 6.

They were among 11 people indicted in the scheme in Colorado. A third was convicted and is awaiting sentencing; the others pleaded guilty and already have been sentenced.

- Associated Press

by CNB