He calls himself "Maverick." He fancies himself a nonconformist among the thousands of nonconformists massing at the Rainbow Family gathering in the Allegheny National Forest.
The government considers Maverick real name: Charles Dennis Masini a nuisance. And now he must take his message somewhere else.
A federal magistrate in Erie fined Masini $50 on Friday and banned him from the Allegheny National Forest until the Rainbow Family gathering ends on July 10. It started June 28.
Masini, 54, who lives somewhere in Wisconsin, also received a five-day suspended prison sentence from U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter. She said Masini will have to spend five days in the Erie County Prison if he returns to the Allegheny National Forest before July 11.
Masini opposes the incarceration of nonviolent criminals, and he espouses Amnesty 2000, a counterculture movement to end the war on drugs in the United States. He used his sentencing hearing to try to spread his views that the government, in the form of the U.S. Forest Service, is ignoring the Rainbow Family's constitutional right to free assembly.
"They terrorize us when we want to pray for peace and healing," Masini told Baxter. "The Declaration of Independence said we should watch out for these people."
Replied Baxter: "We will guard your constitutional rights as well. Thank you for your statement."
Masini pleaded no contest to the federal petty offense of interfering with a forest officer in the performance of his official duty. The Forest Service accused Masini of helping to block a trail with a pickup truck at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Masini, according to the criminal complaint, questioned whether the Forest Service was improperly using the trail as a road. The service said anyone could use the trail.
The petty offense in the case is the equivalent of a misdemeanor. Masini faced a maximum sentence of a $500 fine and six months in prison. He went before Baxter because the U.S. Attorney's Office in Erie has jurisdiction over the forest.
Masini is the first person at this year's Rainbow Family gathering to be required to appear in federal court for violating Forest Service rules. The service estimates 20,000 people will assemble in the forest this weekend for the gathering.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Trucilla, the chief federal prosecutor in Erie, said the Forest Service has cited other people at the gathering for more minor offenses. He said the government is "bending over backward" to keep the peace without intruding on the free-spirit atmosphere of the Rainbow Family, which has no leaders, no charter and no rules.
"We're trying to do it in a harmonious way. I think it is running smoothly," Trucilla said. "We're not saying he (Masini) is public enemy No. 1. But he did something that he had to be held accountable for."
Holding Masini accountable took an hour and 15 minutes on Friday. His hearing lasted far longer than similar hearings for bank robbery suspects and others accused of more serious federal crimes. Khadija Diggs, a federal public defender, represented Masini. Masini wouldn't negotiate with Trucilla until he and Diggs met with his "advisers" Masini's common-law wife and two friends.
The advisers paid the fine afterward and waited outside the federal courthouse off Perry Square in a van with "Amnesty 2000" painted on the side. Charlie Quist, the driver, said Amnesty 2000 is "Maverick's gig." He said Masini especially wants the prisons to release nonviolent offenders.
"The prisons don't work, everyone knows that except corporate America," Quist said.
He was asked where Masini and the rest of them would go now that Masini can't return to the Allegheny National Forest.
"No clue," Quist said.
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