The E-Sylum:  Volume 11, Number 14, April 6, 2008, Article 20

CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST LANCASTER, PA LIBERTY DOLLAR PROPONENT

[Liberty Dollar proponents are still in the news. John Eshbach
forwarded this item from the Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal.
-Editor]

Theft charges against a Clay Township man who paid a utility
bill last fall with privately made coins were dropped Friday
after the man paid the bill in U.S. currency.

Fritz Schrom, a 47-year-old Constitution Party activist, was
charged Jan. 31 with theft by deception for using silver and
copper coins made by Liberty Dollar to pay an electric bill
at a Weis Markets in Penn Township.

Schrom's preliminary hearing was scheduled for Friday. But
before it began, he and his attorney, public defender David
Blanck, agreed to pay the $111 bill with U.S. dollars, and
the theft charges were withdrawn.

When Schrom emerged from the courtroom, about eight supporters
— most of them wearing "Ron Paul for President" buttons —
congratulated him.

He estimates he's paid for about $80,000 worth of goods and
services with Liberty Dollar coins over the past 18 months,
spending most of the money in Lancaster County.

Schrom said he was prepared to fight the charges against
him to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

The theft charges stemmed from his payment Oct. 20 of a
$110 PPL bill and a $1 service fee at the Weis Markets in
Manheim Shopping Center.

He paid the clerk with five $20 coins, one $10 coin and
one $1 coin made by Liberty Dollar, which has been minting
the coins since 1998.

The clerk accepted them and gave Schrom a receipt, he said.
When Weis took the coins to a bank and it refused to accept
them, Penn Township police became involved.

Schrom acknowledged that banks don't recognize the coins
as legal tender but said they are designed to be private
currency for people to use as a form of barter. About $20
million of them are in circulation nationwide, he said.

He is now attempting to get his coins back from Penn
Township police. Because of recent declines in the value
of the dollar, they are now worth much more than face value,
Schrom said.

To read the complete article, see:
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  Wayne Homren, Editor

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