Senator Kevin Ranker (D- 40thLD) is getting some practice being behind bars

TO RECEIVE THE LATEST NEWS FROM WE THE GOVERNED DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX –SUBSCRIBE HERE

Recent Court Records filed in San Juan County Superior Court appear to show Washington State Senator Kevin Ranker (Democrat – 40th Legislative District) conspired (with his mother) to commit tax fraud in 2015 when he falsified documents which he provided to the Washington State Department of Revenue.  This would be a felony. The court records filed by Ranker which exposed this were part of a 2018 collection/garnishment legal case against Senator Ranker stemming from a bankruptcy filing in Federal court by the Senator’s mother.  These recent records appear to expose the perjury on previous 2015 documents signed by Ranker and submitted to the Department of Revenue. Senator Ranker became embroiled in this court action due to Orcas Island property transfers and loans involving both Ranker and his mother in 2015. 

Senator Kevin Ranker (D – 40th Leg. District) is ready to bolt the state Senate

Senator Ranker is also currently immersed in a sexual harassment (#METOO) investigation stemming from accusations filed against him by his former aide with whom he’d had an affair.  Senator Ranker was married at the time.  The background of this case is covered in the Seattle Times article linked here.  This author also discussed the overlooked aspect of this case which was the casual way Senator Ranker felt he could threaten the state budget allocation for the Washington State Fish & Wildlife Department based on sexual favors granted or withheld by targeted employees of that agency (see article here).  That case is currently under investigation, and there are rumors Senator Ranker may resign.

Background on Ranker’s effort to avoid paying taxes (also known as tax fraud)

Senator Ranker has always supported higher taxes for everyone else.  Higher property taxes, higher sales taxes, higher car tab fees, carbon-dioxide taxes (of course), income taxes, and almost any other tax invented by the innovative bureaucrats and special interests in Olympia.  Despite his endless championing of higher taxes, it appears that when given the opportunity to pay his fair share, Senator Ranker avoids paying taxes himself, even if it means risking tax fraud and perjury.

Senator Kevin Ranker lives in this house on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands (photo source: San Juan County Assessor)

Senator Ranker lives on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands.  A lot next to his property was for sale in 2013, and according to his court filings on page 8 (linked here), he borrowed first $40,000 from his mother and a little while later borrowed another $109,026.  Ranker and his wife deposited $3,000 on the property and he began paying his mother back with $1,000 payments per month.  There is nothing nefarious or illegal about this so far, and this is a normal property/private loan transaction on its face.

A quit claim deed was filed with the county and the property was transferred from Senator Ranker’s mother to him on October 21, 2015. The law appears to have been broken when Ranker and his mom signed and submitted a Real Estate Excise Tax form to the Dept of Revenue with false information (see document here).  This is when Senator Ranker appears to have committed tax fraud and a perjury (a Class C felony) on documents submitted to the Washington State Department of Revenue.  He should have checked the box on the second page titled “Gifts with Consideration” and then indicated that he would have owed some taxes on the land being transferred from his mother to him.  His tax liability at the time the property was transferred to him would be $3,475, if he had told the truth.  They would not have anticipated the 2018 court case which would expose these lies and the falsified document (On page 33/34 of the court filings linked here, the court appears to be ordering Ranker NOT to pay his mom the money he owes, which is about $64,000.  It appears he will have to pay the $64,000 he owes his mom to her creditor instead).

This is Senator Ranker’s view

WAC 458-61A-102 defines “consideration” as it relates to the use of the word “consideration” in this tax affidavit filed by Ranker with the Dept of Revenue stating that “no consideration” was received.  Clearly, however, by his own admission in his 2018 written statement on page 8, he had provided “consideration” for the property. He and his mother signed the tax affadavit under the penalty of perjury, and they appear to lie.

At the time of sale, according to RCW 82.45.060,  the State would get 1.28% of the sales price, San Juan County gets another 1/4 point via SJCC 3.08.020 and another 1/4 point to the county via SJCC 3.08.025. This means 1.28% to the state and 0.5% to the county.  On $125,000 estimated value for the property, that’s $1600 to the state and $625 to the county. Also, as an added bonus (in large part to Kevin Rankers endorsement and support as a former San Juan County Commissioner), the county has a 1% REET paid by the buyer to the Land bank, which is codified in SJCC 2.120.020 under the definition of “Conservation area real estate excise tax (REET).So that would be another $1,250 that didn’t get paid to the land bank. Senator Kevin Ranker and his mother told the Department of Revenue, under the penalty of perjury, that this was a gift and no consideration was received.  By doing this, they avoided paying $3,475 in taxes.

Senator Ranker probably prefers to avoid this scenario.

It is a felony to provide false documents submitted to the WA State Department of Revenue. This fact is written at the bottom of the first page of the documents Kevin Ranker submitted to the Department of Revenue (see RCW 9A.20.020(1c)).  The penalties for committing this Class C Felony are “imprisonment in a state correctional institution for a maximum term of not more than five years, or by a fine in an amount fixed by the court of not more than ten thousand dollars, or by both such imprisonment and fine.” It is also illegal to avoid paying excise taxes on property.  Senator Ranker could be subject up to a $10,000 fine and 5 years in jail. 

Senator Kevin Ranker is good friends with San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord (with the button), which should help Ranker stay out of legal hot water and avoid prosecution.

However, Ranker is in luck. Since he is a political insider and good friends with Randy Gaylord, who is the San Juan County Prosecutor, it is unlikely Ranker will be prosecuted.  Laws like this only apply to the little people who are not state senators.  Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is unlikely to intervene to enforce the law because he is too busy suing Donald Trump and Tim Eyman.  Ferguson appears to also be using the office of AG as a tool to reduce liability for his political friends with patty-cake lawsuits and easy settlements (see article linked here).  It is also unlikely that Democrat Ferguson would want to prosecute a Democratic Party State Senator for tax evasion or falsifying documents provided to the Washington State Department of Revenue for personal gain.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is unlikely to enforce the law against his political allies and friends. He has more fun suing Donald Trump and Tim Eyman.

As a side note, it looks like Ranker also failed to report the ownership of this property gifted from his mother on his Personal Financial Affairs forms filed with the Public Disclosure Commission (see here).  Failure to properly disclose property assets like this is also a violation of the law (See RCW 42.17A.700 & .710).  As has been customary for this author over the past few years (see list here), a complaint on this violation has been submitted to the Public Disclosure Commission by the author. A formal notice will also be made to the Dept of Revenue and the Washington State Legislative Ethics Board.

Ranker’s history of breaking the law, and the double standard for political insiders

July 17, 1995 – The Olympian

Senator Ranker is a graduate of Evergreen State College, which is probably where learned the law doesn’t apply to him – just to the rest of us little people.  On July 16, 1995, at 25 years old, he tested this theory when he joined a handful of other students to block the Lakefair Parade while protesting to release convicted cop killer, Mumia Abu- Jamal (See LTE here, and 2008 article here).  After being warned, he was arrested (Olympia PD Incident #95-6735) for Disorderly Conduct , Resisting Arrest, and interfering with a public event (see nearby report on the incident in the Olympian the next day).  Ranker plead guilty to the lesser charge of Disorderly Conduct, was released for time already served, and paid a $50 fine.  13 years Later, in 2008, during his campaign for State Senate in the 40th Legislative District, he reportedly denied he did anything wrong (mistaken identity, wrong place/wrong time, etc) which is one reason at least one law enforcement organization that year refused to endorse him (see WACOPS letter with additional details linked here):

“…Mr. Ranker has not taken responsibility for his behavior that day. Rather, he has made a number of excuses. He has said everything from he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, to it was a case of mistaken identity, to the police were lying. None of these excuses are consistent with the facts.”

(WACOPS letter, published in the Island Guardian August 10, 2008 by Mark Lann – Whatcom County Sheriff’s Deputy and President of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS))

After his Evergreen College days, Ranker was the Executive Director of the Friends of the San Juans, an extremist environmental organization which this author has helped expose in the past for their harassment of property owners on the islands (see article here, here, and here).  Ranker always lobbied for more taxes and always voted for them later when he was an elected official. 

San Juan County, Washington State

Before Senator Ranker was elected in 2008 to the Washington State Senate, he had served as San Juan County Commissioner since 2004. During his tenure as Commissioner he first had an affair with the former county clerk Ann Larson, which has now become state wide news over her accusations that he later threatened the budget of the Washington State Fish and Wildlife agency where she worked unless she agreed to have sex with him again (see original story in Seattle Times here, and other related stories linked here, here and here).  While that case is still being investigated, Ranker’s longer-term pattern of behavior can’t be ignored.

Senator Ranker bartending for the San Juan County Democrats in 2012 – there is a reason they are called “Political Parties” (photo source Facebook)

For Senator Kevin Ranker, there is a consistent pattern of believing the law must be enforced harshly on other people (like property owners and tax payers), but these laws shouldn’t apply to him.  He promotes higher taxes, but he appears to avoid paying those same taxes if he believes he won’t get caught.  So far, he has succeeded in doing this.  With his political allies enforcing the law, it is likely Ranker will get away with it and he can continue to break the law without consequences.  Unfortunately, this is further evidence of the failure to equally apply the law to all people.  Political insiders like Ranker generally appear to avoid the consequences of their lawbreaking, but that doesn’t make it right.

Photo Source: Senator Ranker’s Instagram Account.  It isn’t clear if Senator Ranker views his current scandals as “Epic” 

______________________________________________

OUR CONSTITUTION BEGINS WITH THE PHRASE “WE THE PEOPLE.”  IT WAS THE FOUNDER’S INTENT THAT GOVERNMENT BE CREATED BY THE PEOPLE, TO SERVE THE PEOPLE.  IT WASN’T THEIR INTENTION FOR THE PEOPLE TO SERVE THE GOVERNMENT.  IT WAS ALWAYS INTENDED THAT GOVERNMENT WHICH FAILED TO SERVE THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE “ALTERED OR ABOLISHED.”  UNTIL WE RETURN TO THE FOUNDER’S INTENT, WE REMAIN WE THE GOVERNED

Related Articles:

Democrat Senator Kevin Ranker’s sex harassment case raises questions – how much sex is traded to increase agency budgets?

Seattle Times – “Woman says Washington State Sen. Kevin Ranker threatened to cut her agency’s funding after she rebuffed his sexual advances”

San Juan Islander – “Harrassment allegations against Kevin Ranker under investigation by state Senate”

Cascadia Weekly – “Et tu, #Metoo” (Progressives lamenting the fall of Ranker)

WACOPS letter, published in the Island Guardian August 10, 2008 (please note additional LTE in favor of Ranker with editor’s notes also linked here)

Adventures of a Bellinghamer – “Questions for Kevin Ranker” (2008)

The Olympian (2015) – “Legislative Aide, accused of stealing money from State Senator Ranker”

The Islands’s Sounder – “Ranker receives honor” (if link is removed, here is the original article)

Seattle PI – “Woman raped by Fish & Wildlife boss: ‘I used to be so happy’”

The Olympian – “Greg Schirato sentenced to more than 10 years for rape of co-worker”

The Olympian – “Fish and Wildlife sexual assault case in the hands of the jury”

Fishery Nation.com – “Rape allegation against division manager reveals ‘highly sexualized’ culture at state agency’”

Source Documents

Summary and Excerpts from Olympia Police Incident Report #95-6735, also references Citation #169761

Senator Ranker’s 2016 Financial Affairs Form (F1) filed with the PDC on April 14, 2016 (no reference to new property given to him by mother)

Kevin Ranker – Real Estate Excise Tax Affidavit form submitted to the WA Dept of Revenue on October 21, 2015

San Juan County Superior Court Case #18-2-05026-28 – Lake City Federal Bank vs. Kathleen McNay (Kevin Ranker’s mom) defendant and Kevin Ranker garnishee defendant (Most relevant pages 5-8)

11 COMMENTS

  1. Just imagine if someone “gifted” a parcel of land to Glen Morgan and he claimed the real estate tax exemption because it was a “gift”. Then 2 or 3 years later, we find out that Mr. Morgan had been paying back a loan for the property. Imagine he filled out the documents as Ranker did, with “gift” and “no consideration” written out, under the penalty of perjury.

    How quickly would he be facing prosecution for this?

    We have long suspected there is a two tier justice system. If Ranker is not prosecuted for such a blatant commission of a felony, we will know there really is 2 systems of justice, one for them, one for us.

  2. An otherwise fine article was marred by the misuse of the term “avoid” in the context of tax law.

    Legally reducing one’s tax obligation (by making use of special provisions in the tax code) is properly referred to as “tax avoidance.” Illegally reducing one’s tax obligation is “tax evasion.”

    • Good point. I believe that Falsifying information on documents provided to the Washington State Department of Revenue is still properly called “perjury.”

  3. “Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature”. . . . If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces. ~ James Garfield~
    Think about that and remember over 90% of incumbents get re-elected. Are we really so happy with our government? No? We seem to be so tribal that we will re-elect scumbags like Senator Ranker, just because he has the right letters after his name on the ballot.

  4. The Constitution of the United States of America begins with “We the People” [Preamble]. It ends with “or to the People.” [Amendment X]

    The government of the United States is surrounded by “the People”. The People are not gathered around their master, but are to constrain our servant.

Comments are closed.