Israel Rondon MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The man killed during a gunfight with sheriff's deputies at his Middleburg Heights home Tuesday had filed a slew of lawsuits against government agencies, identifying himself as a sovereign citizen, a movement in which U.S. citizens declare themselves above state and federal law.
Israel Rondon, 65, had been convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in Summit County and of assaulting a police officer in Cuyahoga County. But he appealed the first conviction, arguing that his Second and 14th Amendment rights had been violated, according to court records.
Rondon died of a gunshot wound to the head Tuesday afternoon outside his Sheldon Road home, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner.
A law enforcement source said six deputies were trying to serve a warrant for Rondon's arrest on a probation violation when he came after the deputies with a rifle and opened fire. A preliminary investigation indicates two deputies fired shots, according to an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation spokeswoman. No deputies were injured.
Nick Giegerich, an assistant prosecuting attorney in Lake County who encountered a number of cases involving sovereign citizens as a prosecutor in Cuyahoga County from 2004 to 2013, said sovereign citizens consider themselves "free of government" and that many will not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the courts. He said he remembers offering insight on the movement during a case involving Rondon in Cuyahoga County.
"A lot of these guys aren't bad guys, but they really believe in this stuff," Giegerich said.
Attorney Jeffrey James, who served as standby counsel for a case involving Rondon in Summit County, described him as "unique" and "a true libertarian." But James never felt Rondon was a violent person.
"His views weren't always cogent, and they were somewhat convoluted," James said. "But did I feel threatened or did anyone in the court feel threatened? No. I never felt threatened by Israel. He was just an old man who had his views."
James said Rondon described himself as a "freeman," which the FBI identifies as another term for sovereign citizens. James recalled a story Rondon told him about returning his driver's license to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles because he didn't believe it had the right to regulate driving.
"He basically believed in no government," James said. "He just didn't really put any faith or credit into any government."
Middleburg Heights Prosecutor Peter Hull knew Rondon through several cases in Berea Municipal Court and described him as someone who was "intellectual, in a funny way." Hull said he never felt threatened by Rondon and didn't believe he was a violent person.
"He was approaching the law from what he thought was a studious basis," Hull said. "He seemed to have a real sense that an injustice was being done [to him]."
Several of Rondon's neighbors said Thursday they didn't know him well but that he seemed like "a nice man" during conversations they'd had with him.
No one could be reached for comment at Rondon's home Thursday.
Rondon's legal troubles began with a Sept. 9, 2009, traffic stop in Summit County. A deputy found a loaded .38 caliber handgun under Rondon's seat and a large military style knife attached to his belt, according to court records.
Rondon was sentenced to two years' probation after pleading no contest in Summit County Common Pleas Court in May 2010. His appeal argued Ohio's law against carrying concealed handguns without a permit was unconstitutional and that the law does not provide provisions for an indigent person to waive fees associated with obtaining a permit.
Over the next three and a half years, the 9th District Court of Appeals remanded his case to the trial court twice. In September 2011, it found Rondon pleaded no contest in trial court before he challenged the Ohio law's constitutionality. In October 2013, the court ruled Rondon was acting as co-counsel with James instead of proceeding pro se, which he'd informed the trial court he intended to do.
Rondon encountered more legal troubles after Summit County issued a warrant for his arrest in November 2011, saying he'd failed to appear at a status conference, according to court records.
On Feb. 8, 2012, Middleburg Heights Lt. Kevin Hoover saw Rondon emerge from the woods near Korean Central Baptist Church on Fry Road. Rondon told Hoover he'd seen people shooting deer and that he was looking for injured deer, according to a police report.
After allowing Rondon to leave, Hoover searched a police database and discovered his active warrant out of Summit County, according to the police report.
When Hoover went to Rondon's home to arrest him, he resisted and hit Hoover with an open hand on the chest. When Hoover, who was much larger than Rondon, arrested him, he found two small hunting knives concealed on Rondon, according to reports and prosecutors familiar with the case.
Rondon was indicted and charged with assaulting a police officer and carrying concealed weapons in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, according to court records.
Acting as his own attorney, he pleaded not guilty in March 2012 before changing his plea to no contest in September 2012. He was sentenced to two years' probation.
In April 2013, Rondon was accused of misdemeanor zoning and building code violations in Berea Municipal Court, where he filed lengthy handwritten motions questioning the Berea court's jurisdiction.
Over the past two years, while his criminal cases were ongoing, Rondon also filed eight lawsuits in U.S. District Court, naming government officials, government agencies and banks as defendants and seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, according to court records.
All eight lawsuits, several of which were handwritten, were dismissed within weeks. Judges wrote in their decisions to dismiss each lawsuit that they were difficult to understand and lacked factual evidence, according to court records.
On Jan. 31, 2012, Rondon filed three lawsuits accusing banks such as PNC Bank, Dollar Bank, Key Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; agencies and officials such as the state of Ohio, the governor of Ohio, the Ohio legislature and Summit County; and Colene Conley, a former property maintenance inspector in Middleburg Heights, of violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Rondon wrote that he was filing the lawsuit against the banks "for the attempt to humiliate, diminish and negation of authority from which sovereign citizen without political lien or venue takes severe injury," according to court records.
Judges dismissed all three lawsuits by Feb. 23, 2012. In his decision dismissing the lawsuit against various government officials and agencies, Judge John R. Adams said Rondon's claims were "clearly the subject of a state court criminal matter," referring to his misdemeanor building and zoning code case in Berea Municipal Court.
On Jan. 3, 2013, Rondon filed another lawsuit against the Social Security Administration, accusing it of withholding moneys owed to him while he was in jail. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, writing that it "lacks plausibility," according to court records.
Rondon filed three more lawsuits Aug. 2, 2013, naming the District Court, the Middleburg Heights Building Department and the Social Security Administration and the Supplemental Security Income program as defendants. All three were dismissed by Oct. 16, according to court records.
Judge John R. Adams wrote in his decision to dismiss the lawsuit against the District Court that it was "rambling and incoherent" and said the complaint, which alleged the court had deprived Rondon of due process rights, was "devoid of any factual support for such assertions," according to court records.
