Man convicted of sending threats to IRS

A southern Utah man was convicted Thursday by a federal jury for mailing threatening letters to the Internal Revenue Service and other government officials.

After a three-day trial, the jury returned verdicts of guilty on counts of mailing threatening communications and interfering with IRS laws against 47-year-old Thomas Vaughn Barlow.

Barlow was indicted last August by a federal grand jury of mailing threatening letters to the IRS, as well as sending copies of those letters to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

Federal prosecutors said some of the letters dealt with Barlow's history with the FLDS Church, while others threatened to kill IRS agents.

Barlow has had a past run-in with state law, having previously been charged in St. George with attempted kidnapping, assault and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child. He was accused of trying to kidnap one of his ex-wives.

During his September 2006 trial, Barlow's defense attorney said his client was kicked out of the FLDS church in 2003, and his two wives were reassigned to his brother. Barlow claimed he was trying to "rescue" his family from the FLDS Church. The case ended in a mistrial when it was revealed that a Hilldale town marshal failed to hand over a medical report to Washington County prosecutors and defense attorneys until it was too late.

Barlow is expected to be sentenced on the federal convictions on Jan. 31. He faces up to three years in prison for each count.

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E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com