A so-called  “sovereign citizen” has been sentenced  to more than 70 years in prison for targeting two Orange County Circuit Court judges with a fraudulent claim of a $50 million lien against their property. JARECA T. SUMTER, 38, also has been barred from filing any “instrument” in any official record without prior review and approval by a judge.

A jury convicted Sumter in September of two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information with fraud in excess of $100,000 and two counts of unlawful filing of false documents against real or personal property. Seminole County prosecutors Stacey Salmons, Domenick Leo and Jennie Hayes were specially assigned to try the case in Orange County to avoid any conflicts of interest, as was the Polk County circuit judge who presided.

Before her Oct. 2 sentencing, Sumter repeatedly stated that her conviction was unconstitutional and that she would not accept or comply with any sentence imposed by the court. Citing her likelihood to reoffend if released on probation, prosecutors argued for consecutive prison sentences for the four criminal counts.

Circuit Judge Catherine Combee agreed, sentencing Sumter to 71.5 years including:

• Two consecutive 30-year sentences for the two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information, a first-degree felony.
• Two 11.5-year sentences for the two counts of unlawful filing of false documents against real or personal property, a second-degree felony. These sentences were ordered to run consecutive to the fraud counts but concurrent with each other.

Combee also issued orders enjoining Sumter from filing any future documents without judicial review and approval and declared Sumter’s lien-related filings against the judges null and void. The judge gave Sumter credit for 295 days spent in custody as she awaited trial.

Sumter was arrested in August 2025 after she admitted to Orange County Sheriff’s Agent Aaron Blankenship that she filed the lien claim online through a state website and paid the filing fee with her credit card.  A lien acts as a legal claim against someone’s property, forcing the owner to settle their debt to the filer ($50 million, according to Sumter’s claim) before the alleged debtor can sell or refinance the property.

When the investigator asked her name, the South Caroline native identified herself as an “authorized representative of the entity Jareca Sumter.” She said she filed for the lien after one of the judges banned her from making further motions while representing herself in another Orange County court case. Sumter said “the courthouse is a bank” with money that should be given to her due to the judge’s ruling.

Investigators recognized Sumter’s statements as characteristic of sovereign-citizen ideology.

Adherents of the sovereign citizen movement believe the U.S. government and legal system were secretly replaced by an illegitimate, corporate-run government. To them, all public laws, criminal statutes and court jurisdictions are merely corporate contracts governed by the Uniform Commercial Code. They believe they can exploit legal loopholes in commercial laws to erase personal debts or to extort public officials for money. According to the FBI, they often continue that activity from prison if convicted.