WNC woman worked with antigovernment website founder to issue fake arrest writs; convicted

ASHEVILLE - A Waynesville woman charged with sending fictitious arrest writs to Western North Carolina public officials and private individuals, accusing them of corruption, treason and more, has been convicted and sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

Darris Gibson Moody, 57, created these fake "writs of execution" using an antigovernment website created by Timothy Michael Dever, 57, of Naperville, Illinois. The website issued fictitious court judgments convicting hundreds of public officials and private individuals across multiple states of bogus crimes.

Dever pleaded guilty to five counts of aiding and abetting threatening interstate communications and was sentenced Aug. 24 by Judge Martin Reidinger in U.S. District Court in Asheville. Dever was ordered to serve 10 years in prison plus three years of court supervision after he is released.

Moody also pleaded guilty to making threatening interstate communication and was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and proceedings, Dever created and administered a website under the factitious entity, “People’s Bureau of Investigation,” said an announcement from Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for N.C.'s Western District, and Robert M. DeWitt, special agent in charge of the FBI in the state.

On this website, Dever “hosted, maintained and provided content” for PBI, including templates for court judgments, or “writs of execution,” issued by a fake court called the “U.S. Environmental District Court,” the release stated. Dever’s website claimed these writs gave private citizens the authority to conduct a “citizen’s arrest” of individuals falsely accused of bogus crimes by the fake writs, and those who did so could receive a monetary award of $20,000. The website also claimed, according to the news release, that those arrested could face punishment of monetary fines, imprisonment and even death.

Moody, a PBI group member, used the website in the summer of 2022 to generate fake arrest writs and notices, which she then faxed to targets she accused of “having been convicted of corruption, environmental charges and even treason,” the news release stated. One of these documents included a writ of execution Moody sent on June 24, 2022, according to additional court documents obtained by the Citizen Times Aug. 25.

Most of the 57 individuals Moody targeted reside in the Western District of North Carolina, including sheriffs, judges and other government officials and private individuals, the news release detailed.

“Originally when I got the phone call that the arrest warrant was posted in our local post office … I thought it was a joke,” Waynesville Town Council Mayor Tempore Julia Freeman told the Citizen Times, adding that the warrant listed “almost every single town councilperson,” former Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher, his chief deputy at the time and other local Haywood County officials. She said the “warrant” specifically accused them of poisoning the Waynesville water system.

“It became very real the minute that the FBI called me,” Freeman added. “They listed my personal home address, my business addresses, my office address and they also had the confidential shelter address of the domestic violence program I work with. How they got that, I have no idea.”

Freeman said she felt threatened then, and still does today. She’s now most concerned about retaliation against the victims who stood up in federal court. According to Freeman, there were four victims who presented in court Aug. 24 with a victim impact statement, including councilperson Anthony Sutton, Head District Court Judge Roy Wijewickrama, Judge Donna Forga and Freeman herself.

The website contained a link to Telegram channels, a digital app permitting encrypted text messaging and chat rooms, where PBI members exchanged ideas and discussed the use of the writs. One PBI member named Dee Thomas Murphy wrote, “I have a lot of guys there just waiting to start these arrests and collect that money. They’ve been waiting for about 5-6 years now,” according to a court document establishing a factual basis for the guilty pleas, obtained by the Citizen Times Aug. 25.

“The arrest teams shall be in teams of 12,” Murphy also wrote. “We have near 500 that are ripe for the arrest.”

The PBI website listed personal identifying information, including names, home addresses and personal information, of over 900 victims located in about 32 different states, who had been falsely named as convicted defendants in the fake writs. U.S. Attorney King was listed as one of the scheme's victims, according to spokesperson Lia Bantavani, although King did not receive one of Moody’s “arrest warrants.”

The documents accused these individuals of being "enemies of the people" due to "crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and traitorous treason," according to a sentencing memorandum obtained by the Citizen Times Aug. 25.

According to the memorandum, the writs also "warned that the victims had been targeted by a large group of people and that anyone willing to abduct the victims would be rewarded with a sizeable cash bounty."

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“Dever’s anti-government rhetoric and fake arrest writs were more than a nuisance. They put hundreds of lives at risk,” King stated in the news release.

The website’s writs, which Dever promoted as “a mechanism for removing federal, state and local officials from their positions,” were available for download on the PBI’s website, alongside other documents and videos explaining their purpose and how to use them. These writs notified victims that they were subject to "citizen arrest" which could be conducted without a warrant within 30 days from when the writ was received, according to court documents obtained by the Citizen Times.

“Those who shared Dever’s warped ideology, including Moody, became self-proclaimed bounty hunters that turned innocent victims into targets of harassment, intimidation, and death threats,” King also stated. “But, unlike Dever and Moody’s sham court proceedings, my office has legitimate authority to hold these defendants accountable for their actions.”

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. News tips? Email Ryley at rober@gannett.com. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Waynesville woman sentenced in US District Court for fake arrest writs