‘Sovereign citizen’ captured

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 5, 2012

A wanted Andalusia couple – a man who described himself as a “sovereign citizen and self-proclaimed lawyer” and his girlfriend – were captured Monday in Florida.

Travis Lee Lambert, then-61, was charged in 2011 with misdemeanor unlawful practice of serving as a lawyer in Houston County and was released on a $3,000 bond.

Lambert is accused of working on behalf of his girlfriend, the then-60-year-old Janet Tharpe Hancock of Andalusia, who was convicted of burglarizing a residence in Dothan. The two contended that as a sovereign, the laws of the United States did not apply to them. Hancock was released on a $100,000 bond and was sentenced to three years in prison. She had appealed her conviction, but when it was denied, the two fled before heading to court.

A–Advantage Bonding bail enforcement agents found the couple in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Both Hancock and Lambert are now in the custody of Port Saint Lucie Sheriff Department awaiting extradition back to Houston County.