by MELISSA PERNER
The Ozona Stockman

An Ozona man was found guilty of three traffic violations, after a short jury trial on Feb. 24.

Phillip Vargas was found guilty of displaying the wrong license plate on a vehicle, failure to maintain financial responsible, such as proof liability vehicle insurance and operating an unregistered motor vehicle.

Vargas’ sentence was fines for each charge plus court costs totaling $945, which is the maximum amount for the charges.

County Attorney Jody Upham, who prosecuted the case, allowed Vargas 10 days to either appeal the case in writing with approved appeal bonds for each charge or pay the fines.

All three charges are class C misdemeanors. It took the jury of five men and one woman 10 minutes to decide on the unanimous verdict. The trial took place in Justice of the Peace Court with Justice of the Peace Jim Hearne presiding.

      Vargas chose to represent himself in the trial and waived his right to an attorney.

      During trial testimony, Crockett County Sheriff’s Deputy Emilio Tambunga said that on Dec. 2, 2009 he pulled over a gold color Mercedes vehicle in Ozona. Tambunga said the he had received information prior to that day about the vehicle having the wrong license plates.

      Tambunga said the Mercedes had license plates on it registered to a Dodge vehicle. Tambunga said informed Vargas about the license plate and that Vargas told Tambunga that he was not required to have a license plate as he was a sovereign citizen.

      Tambunga also said that Vargas told him he did not have insurance or registration because he just purchased the vehicle.

      “At that point, I determined to arrest (Vargas) for those violations,” Tambunga said.

      Vargas said he tried to show Tambunga an affidavit of truth stating that he was a sovereign citizen. Vargas also said that by Tambunga not taking him straight to a magistrate and taking him to jail instead, it was “false imprisonment.”

      During his case, Vargas showed the jury a video of the traffic stop where Tambunga arrested him for the three violations. Vargas kept pointing out in the video how Tambunga would not accept his paperwork.

      Vargas then began reading a statement to the jury about the U.S. Constitution and the law. At this time, Hearne said that the court is dealing with the traffic citations Vargas has been charged with.

      “You, sir are getting very, very close to getting out of balance. I will not let you turn this courtroom into a circus,” Hearne said. “My patience is running out.”

      Vargas then stated that as a sovereign citizen, he is not subject to local regulations.

      “There is no law that requires me to register my car. I have an affidavit of truth that clarifies that I am not a person, I am a human being,” Vargas said. “This affidavit states that I want nothing to do with a corporation, so I’m out. So all those laws, they don’t apply to me. It’s my right to do this, and I’ve done it. I’m not a person, I’m a human being. God created a human being.”

Vargas said that a person is created by the United States, which is a corporation that tells a person what to do. Vargas also said again that Tambunga would not accept his papers that he tried to show him during the traffic stop.           

“When this is all done, I will press charges on everyone who does not accept this,” Vargas told the jury while holding the paperwork in question. “It’s the law.”

      During her cross-examination, Upham asked Vargas that since he claims he’s a human being and not a person, is he an individual?

      Vargas sat on the witness stand a while before answering “I don’t know how to answer that.”

      Upham then asked Vargas if he committed the three violations he had been charged with and he admitted that he had.

      Prior to giving the case to the jury, Hearne ruled that Vargas’s paperwork claiming him as a sovereign citizen was inadmissible.

      “I find nothing in this document that pertains to the case at hand,” Hearne told Vargas. “I told you to deal with the case at hand.”