Bill Sizemore (born June 2, 1951) is an American political activist and writer in Redmond, Oregon, United States.
[citation needed] These included one about a "Trail of Debt" he had allegedly left behind, one of which involved an outstanding loan from a fellow church member, which Sizemore says was eventually repaid; one about a fishing club on a private lake, to which he tried to sell memberships before obtaining state permission; and one about an apparently falsified loan application on which he claimed not to have declared bankruptcy when, in fact, he had done so.
Sizemore lost the November general election to incumbent Governor John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.
During the trial Becky Miller, Sizemore's top aide, under protection of state and federal immunity deals, testified in detail about allegedly unethical and illegal practices of Oregon Taxpayers United.
[9] After a post-trial hearing in which no evidence was submitted Sizemore was found personally liable for his organization's civil racketeering liability, and the judge shut down his 501(c)(3) education foundation.
On December 1, 2008, Sizemore was sent to jail after a Multnomah County judge found him in contempt of court[13] for the fourth time in his long-running legal battle with two Oregon teachers unions.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Janice R. Wilson ordered Sizemore, who was not an officer of the corporation, jailed until he signed and filed federal and state tax forms that charitable organizations are required to complete to maintain their tax-exempt status.
Sizemore called the charges politically inspired and said he had paid $51,000 in estimated taxes for 2006 and 2007, but could not file actual returns until an ongoing civil case resolved the amount of his income for the years in question.
Teachers union and Department of Justice lawyers had claimed in court that Sizemore had personally taken $850,000 from a nonprofit he had been running, but a later audit by the Oregon Department of Revenue determined that Sizemore's income for the three years in question was $392,000, $500,000 less than the teachers unions and Oregon DOJ lawyers had claimed.
In 2011, after the judge in the case ruled that Sizemore would not be allowed to put on any defense, he pleaded guilty to three counts of felony failure to file state income-tax returns, with a plea agreement to serve 30 days jail and 3 years probation.
Three years later Marion County Judge Claudia Burton retroactively converted the felonies to misdemeanors and all of Sizemore's rights were restored.