Daniel Edward Turner didn't believe in the federal tax system and went to great lengths to avoid paying the Internal Revenue Service, authorities say.

Turner, 44, a self-employed residential framing contractor from Cumming, was found guilty by a U.S. District Court jury in Gainesville this week for obstructing the IRS.

The obstruction included everything from submitting bogus documents to claiming misconduct by government employees. He had one customer of his business pay a third party $92,000 for work he did to conceal his income and hadn't filed an individual income tax return for at least 14 years.

Turner, a so-called "tax protester," relied on the strategies of a group called American Rights Litigators, whose practices were brought to light in the tax evasion trial of actor Wesley Snipes. American Rights Litigators sold letters, counterfeit checks and other documents to help people illegally fight the tax man, authorities say.

For sending bogus checks to the IRS in 2003 that purported to total $491,000 but were actually worthless, Turner faces up to 25 years in prison.

"The law is crystal clear: People must pay their taxes," said Reginael D. McDaniel, a criminal investigation agent with the IRS. "There is no gray area on this issue."

Prosecutors said Turner was involved with ARL's illegal strategies since at least 1998. The group's founder, Eddie Kahn, is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence after his conviction for conspiracy to defraud the government in the Snipes case.
Authorities said Turner's personal beliefs about the tax system didn't exempt him from the law.

"Everyone must pay their taxes, regardless of whether they agree with the tax laws," U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said in a statement. "The jury's verdict should sent the message that tax protesters are not above the law."

U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story will sentence Turner at a later date.