Ted and Steve Nelson, the Letcher father and son indicted this past July on multiple charges of federal tax evasion, have been granted a continuance until next March.
Theodore “Ted” John Nelson, Jr., 66, and Steven A. Nelson, 43, are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, impeding the Internal Revenue Service and a combined seven charges of failure to file income tax returns. They were arrested July 10 and plead not guilty and a jury trial was scheduled for Sept. 10 in Sioux Falls.
Ted Nelson filed a waiver of speedy trial on July 30 and a first continuance was granted on Aug. 8. Jury trial was reset for Dec. 10.
Nelsons were granted a second continuance on Oct. 25 and new trial date has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 9 a.m. in Sioux Falls with U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier presiding.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine;  the failure to file taxes charges each have a maximum of one year in prison and/or a $10,000 fine; and the impeding charge carries a maximum three years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.
According to the indictment the conspiracy to defraud the United States to avoid paying income taxes began prior to April 1, 2002. Ted and Steve together formed 39 trusts, corporations, LLCs and other entities using income from their Sanborn County farm to fund them.
The indictment alleges the pair conspired to evade taxes to the IRS, forming a number of fake trusts, opening bank accounts in the names of those trusts, many with fake Taxpayer Identification Numbers or fake Social Security Numbers, and hiding assets and income.
The Nelsons were reportedly involved with the Pembina Nation Little Shell Band of North America, an unrecognized spin off of federally recognized Chippewa tribes in North Dakota and Montana. Members are generally whites who claim sovereignty by belonging to the tribe and are therefore not subject to United States laws.
The indictment does not indicate how much money the Nelsons owe the IRS.