Defendant in Denver Case Arrested in Minneapolis After Missing Initial Appearance in Federal Court

SALT LAKE CITY—Paul Ernest Sellors, age 69, of Saint Anthony, Minnesota, charged with using a counterfeit seal of a United States Court in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Denver, Colorado, was arrested Wednesday in Saint Anthony.

Sellors was taken into custody without incident by members of the FBI’s Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force. A federal magistrate judge in Denver issued a warrant for his arrest on May 1, 2013, after he failed to appear for an initial appearance on the charges in the indictment.

The indictment, filed in April, alleges Sellors and a co-defendant, Ronald Roy Hoddenpyle, age 70, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, used a forged and counterfeit seal of the “United States of America, District Court, District of Minnesota,” to authenticate fraudulent documents, including an order to set trial by jury, an order of custody, and orders to reschedule jury trials. Sellors and Hoddenpyle are charged with four counts of using a counterfeit seal of a United States Court in the indictment.

A five-day jury trial for Hoddenpyle has been set for July 15, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello in federal court in Denver. Hoddenpyle is in custody.

Sellors had an initial appearance in Minneapolis Wednesday. A detention and identity hearing has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CDT Thursday.

The case against Sellors and Hoddenpyle is being prosecuted in Denver by Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the District of Utah. The case is being investigated by special agents of the FBI and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.