Sovereign Citizens Plot: Not guilty pleas for pair accused of plotting to kidnap cops

(CBS/AP) LAS VEGAS - A Nevada judge has entered a not guilty plea for a California ex-convict, and a Las Vegas woman pleaded not guilty, to plotting to kidnap police officers to draw attention to their anti-authority philosophy known as "sovereign citizen."

David Brutsche refused to enter the plea himself Tuesday, saying the court didn't have authority over him. He and Devon Newman each invoked their right to a speedy trial on a felony kidnap conspiracy charge. They face up to six years in prison if convicted.

Their trial is scheduled for Dec. 9.

Brutsche is being held on $600,000 bail. Newman is being held on $200,000 bail.

They were arrested Aug. 20 after Las Vegas police say undercover detectives spent months with them, allegedly scheming on what investigators said amounted to a domestic terror plot.

The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., tallies more than 100,000 loosely organized sovereign citizen followers, and blames the group for seven killings of law enforcement officers in the past 10 years in South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas and California.

Complete coverage of Devon Newman and David Brutsche on Crimesider