A Powell man has been jailed after he allegedly violated a court order then took his teenage daughter from her foster home and refused to disclose her location for more than two days. He has denied wrongdoing.

Kelly C. Cheatham, 44, turned himself in to authorities on Sept. 29, hours after the Park County Sheriff’s Office publicly declared his daughter to be a missing person. However, at a subsequent appearance in Park County District Court, Cheatham demanded his release. Cheatham asserted that he wasn’t subject to the court’s jurisdiction while repeatedly invoking language used by those in the so-called “sovereign citizen” movement. 

Views vary within the movement, but adherents generally believe the American government has been covertly replaced by an illegitimate entity. They often use irregular legal theories and paperwork to try arguing that they’re exempt from laws or debts. For example, it’s common for sovereign citizens to contend that they’re not the defendant who’s named in a criminal or civil complaint.

At the start of his Oct. 2 hearing for contempt of court, Cheatham announced that, “I refuse to identify as the corporate entity on the docket, capitalized in all capital letters under my name.”

“OK, uh, are you asserting your rights as a sovereign citizen?” District Court Judge Bill Simpson asked. “Is that correct?”

“I am here to claim … that I am the living and sole beneficiary of my estate,” Cheatham responded. “And I demand that you give me your personal indemnity bond numbers.”

Simpson said he didn’t understand what Cheatham was referring to and moved forward. The judge eventually set the defendant’s bail at $25,000 cash. 

Arguing for release

Cheatham’s court-appointed defense attorney, Travis Smith, later asked the judge to reconsider his bond.

“While the allegations are serious in this proceeding, the maximum penalty is [90] days incarceration,” Travis Smith wrote in a filing, “and the current bond should be modified to allow Mr. Cheatham an opportunity to be released and work with his attorney on possible defenses or resolution to the pending contempt proceeding.”

At a Friday hearing, however, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Ericka Smith argued against a bond reduction. She called Cheatham “a danger to the community and his child.”

“I think most of us that have been involved in the case all year could say, ‘Man, Kelly [Cheatham]’s a good guy. He’s a good dad,’” Ericka Smith said. “He does great, but then drugs catch up and things get wild.”

Judge Simpson ultimately decided to leave bail at $25,000 cash for the time being, expressing concern about the allegations.

Cheatham remained in custody on Monday.

Drug tests and refusals

The contempt charge alleges Cheatham violated an order that Simpson issued earlier this year in a juvenile proceeding. While the details are confidential, court records indicate the order followed an emergency shelter care hearing for Cheatham’s child.

In an April 30 ruling, Simpson ordered Cheatham to complete parenting classes and counseling, to abstain from drugs and alcohol, and to submit to drug tests requested by Department of Family Services (DFS) personnel and law enforcement.

However, a sworn affidavit from a DFS staffer alleges Cheatham tested positive for meth and amphetamine the day the order was issued, apparently tried to fake another sample in May, then refused additional tests. The affidavit says he also refused to complete counseling and classes. According to the social worker, Cheatham asserted that DFS was violating his and his child’s constitutional rights.

The Park County Attorney’s Office subsequently asked Simpson to hold Cheatham in indirect criminal contempt of court and the judge issued a warrant on Sept. 16. However, according to Ericka Smith, officers decided it wouldn’t be safe to try arresting Cheatham at his home. 

“They did not want to serve the warrant for fear of some sort of firefight and not enough officers and such to handle the matter,” she said.

Then in late September, Cheatham allegedly took his daughter from a foster home. On Sept. 29, the Park County Sheriff’s Office asked for the public’s help in locating Cheatham’s daughter, alleging in a Facebook post that Cheatham “may be concealing her location in violation of a court order.”

Ericka Smith said the teen — who’d been missing for nearly three days — arrived at the sheriff’s office hours later, while Cheatham turned himself in.

Not the entity you’re looking for

At the subsequent warrant hearing on Oct. 2, Cheatham reiterated his belief that the drug testing requirement was a violation of his constitutional rights and challenged the court’s authority over him.

“I demand that you release me upon there’s no evidence of, no proof of your claim of having jurisdiction over me,” he said.

Cheatham said everyone involved would be held liable in their official and personal capacities for violating “trust law” and said later that, “You guys will not get away with this.”

Court records show Cheatham tried making similar arguments in May, after he was cited for driving without a valid license and speeding in Big Horn County. In a filing, he asserted “a constitutional right to travel freely without the necessity of a license” and said “any administrative actions taken to reap financial benefits through the issuance, sale, or securitization of bonds or other financial instruments tied to the entity *KELLY CHEATHAM* are rebutted and denied ab initio, nunc pro tunc.”

His arguments didn’t persuade Circuit Court Judge Ed Luhm, who fined Cheatham $295 for the citations following a June bench trial.

Judge Simpson was similarly unmoved at the Oct. 2 hearing. On Cheatham’s behalf, the judge entered a denial of the allegations and then continued with the hearing.

A $25,000 bond

When it came time to set bond, Ericka Smith recommended $15,000 cash. Beyond the drug-related concerns and uncooperative conduct described in the affidavit, Smith alleged that Cheatham “made threats about killing people that were involved in his case” and told law enforcement that he was “willing to use force.”

She also expressed concern about the way Cheatham spoke in court, saying it raised questions about his competency.

For his part, Cheatham specifically denied any allegation that he’d made threats. He was beginning to elaborate when Simpson cut him off, warning that anything Cheatham said could be used against him. Cheatham then gave up, saying he would “let myself be baffoozled into this … whatever you call it here.”

Simpson ultimately set bail at $25,000 cash, above the prosecution’s recommendation.

In arguing for a reduction on Friday, defense attorney Travis Smith noted the time his client had already served in jail, the fact that he turned himself in and said he had a potential job waiting for him. 

Though he left bail as is, Simpson said he might be willing to lower the amount if he gets more information about Cheatham’s potential job — and if Cheatham wears a GPS-tracking device.

The judge has set a Dec. 4 hearing to evaluate the evidence and determine whether Cheatham should be held in contempt.