In Middletown, Curtis Smith, 'sovereign citizen,' was man of mystery — and heavily armed

At Curtis Smith's house, first came the fence. Then a rear addition. Then a long, winding concrete driveway leading to a windowless cinder block garage that apprehensive residents in the quiet Middletown neighborhood called "the bunker."

Then there were the guns, described as “terrifying” by Bucks County Judge Charissa Liller. Glock and SIG Sauer handguns, .38 revolver, Wiser AR-style rifle, Mossberg shotgun, a scoped Stier Arms sniper rifle, body armor and a cache of ammunition.

On the dining room table of the Langhorne-Yardley Road home lay a laminated sheet stating the right to defend one's property through force, if necessary.

“It was like he was going to make some sort of stand,” said a neighbor on nearby Valley View Drive who, like most interviewed, asked that his name not be published, fearful of the consequences.

A county prosecutor was more blunt, telling the judge, Smith appeared ready for "an assault.”

For all authorities know about Smith, mystery still surrounds the self-proclaimed "sovereign citizen," who moved into 596 Langhorne-Yardley Road 19 months ago. It the intersection at N. Flowers Mill Road into a concern and a curiosity for the neighborhood and many of the commuters passing by each day, who watched the two-acre lot transform quickly.

Where did he come from and what led him to Bucks County? How did he get the firearms? How did he get involved with the sovereign citizen movement? And why, after six years of no police interactions, building a business and buying a $575,000 home, did he risk all? And what did he intend with that firepower?

Who is Curtis Smith, sovereign citizen?

Smith, 43, an anti-government “sovereign citizen,” kept his neighbors on edge after moving into the low-slung, renovated ranch home at 596 Langhorne-Yardley Road in 2022.

He moved in and quickly started changing the property. The major modifications, however, were made without permits or variances, some which he could have easily obtained, township officials said.

But Smith didn't believe the township had jurisdiction over him or his property, as he believed he was a sovereign citizen. Simply, the rules and laws of the township, state and federal government didn't apply to him.

The unauthorized work launched a legal battle with Middletown, and ultimately led to the discovery of the weapons in the home, and criminal charges. Smith would be charged, and later convicted, of illegal possession of firearms by a convicted felon and other charges.

Earlier this month, after a two-day trial in which he defended himself, Smith was sentenced by Judge Liller to 28 to 56 years in state prison.

Sovereign to prison Middletown 'sovereign citizen' gets prison for guns inside Langhorne-Yardley Road home

Smith's criminal history dates back to at least 2001 with felonies and prison time for, among other convictions, receiving stolen property and aggravated assault.

Curtis Smith, the new neighbor on Yardley-Langhorne Road

His neighbors were curious when he moved in, but they would assess him quickly: He’s suspicious of strangers, they would later say.

When Smith moved into the house in the late summer of 2022, neighbors said he gave them a chilly reception. He wasn’t much for small talk and turned down an invite to an annual neighborhood gathering.

One of the first things he did was install a white, vinyl fence around the perimeter of the 1.7-acre property, creating what his neighbors said was an obstructed view of traffic for them while pulling out onto E. Winchester Avenue.

“He made it clear he wasn’t interested in being neighborly,” said one woman.

“He’s a very private person who doesn’t want people knowing his business,” said Middletown Police Chief Joseph Bartorilla, who gained Smith’s trust, never stepping onto his property without Smith’s permission, as he tried early and often to mediate and work with the town's new resident.

When Smith did talk, he said things that created a low-key buzz in the Valley View neighborhood. He told a neighbor that he had a $2.8 million discrimination settlement from the City of Philadelphia. Smith, who grew up in West Philly with city employee parents, told another neighbor that he moved to Bucks County from the city because he wanted to live in the country.

“He seemed to think that out here was the country, and he could do what he pleased on his property,” said the neighbor.

The cinder block garage, set in the front yard, was for storage, Smith told Chief Bartorilla. The stamped concrete driveway that led to it was for deliveries, Smith told the chief.

Then there was his line of work.

Smith owned and operated Hulk's Recovery & Transport, a towing service out of Philadelphia and Glenside. But his rigs rarely moved from his driveway, neighbors said.

Curtis Smith, diplomat from Shaykamaxum Republic Tribal Nation?

When they did, they sometime carried a license plate bearing “358238” and below "OFFICIAL DIPLOMAT" of the fictitious Shaykamaxum Republic Tribal Nation, part of the sovereign citizen movement, which rejects government authority.

A neighbor said that, as a “diplomat,” Smith believed he was entitled to free postage at the Langhorne Post Office. At his trial, Smith told Liller that the court had no jurisdiction in his case.

"How does a guy like this get mixed up in it?" said Middletown Police Lt. Steve Foreman, who has studied the sovereign citizen movement. "Usually in prison is where they hear it. They meet some jailhouse lawyer, and it sticks."

Even with court fees and township fines piling up, Smith held his ground.

"He said to me that he just wants his privacy,” Chief Bartorilla said in an August 2023 interview.

“I said, ‘You just can't do whatever you want to do on your property, Curtis, it would be a free-for-all if people did that,” Bartorilla said.

Smith told him he had applied for permits, but gave up on the process.

Bartorilla said Smith was frustrated that when he did apply and went toa zoning meeting for approval that "every single neighbor was there, probably to speak against what he wanted to do.

"And he just turned and walked out. And then just decided to go ahead and do the work on his own anyway,” the chief said.

Gone Middletown razes illegal garage of 'sovereign citizen' who says he's not 'bound by any law'

Curtis Smith, defendant in Bucks County

In July 2023, with the township threatening to raze the illegal structures, Smith was arrested for contempt of court.

While in custody, Smith told prison officers that his 2-year-old son was in the Middletown house, alone.

Investigators said this was likely a ploy, Smith believing he’d be freed to tend to the son, but the story was fake. and would lead to the criminal charges that sent him to prison for decades.

Police went to his house, but the windows were covered with one-way mirrored tape. They forced their way inside, and found the arsenal of firearms and ammunition.

Most chilling was a scoped, black Stier Arms sniper rifle, set on a bipod on a table near windows that have a 180-degree view of busy Langhorne-Yardley Road and Smith’s neighbors on Valley View Drive, authorities said.

Smith, a man of modest stature and long braided hair, defended himself at his two-day trial in Doylestown in early March.

It began badly, before a jury had been picked.

Judge Liller slapped him with 30 days in jail for contempt of court when he repeatedly refused to take the oath, wouldn’t stand when addressing the court, and argued whether a Bucks County judge had jurisdiction over crimes committed in Bucks County.

“You’re rambling with foolishness,” Liller said.

His behavior changed dramatically, however, as he faced the pool jurors as they entered the courtroom. He appeared humbled, standing up as they filed in. He was polite. His hands shook slightly while holding papers and while addressing them.

Middletown Detective Megan Freer testified that Smith could have held off the entire police department, given his tactical advantages.

“If there was to be any kind of barricade or situation in which (the police) were taking on any amount of fire, it would be very difficult to approach the property at all,” she said.

In his closing argument, he said the firearms had been given to him, but didn’t say by who. Smith, who is Black, asked the mostly white jury to be neutral in its decision. All he wanted was his privacy in Middletown, he said. He didn’t want them to stereotype him.

“I know there are feelings about firearms, about Black people, about police,” he said.

It took the panel less than an hour to find Smith guilty on all nine counts. He asked to be sentenced immediately.

Before sentencing, Liller asked: “Do you want to tell me why you had so many guns?”

“Well,” he said, “Look at it as a person … who likes certain things, like as a hobby. Somebody might like basketball, they have a ton of basketballs. Somebody likes boxing, martial arts, they have a ton of equipment on that.”

He suggested he is a gun hobbyist, a collector. He studies the art of handling weapons.

“They (non-hobbyists) don’t understand intricacy of it, and the skills you need to be able to draw, to be able to zero out. I mean, those things fascinate me, personally ... It’s fascination,” he said.

Deputy District Attorney Ed Furman, the prosecutor, suggested Valley View and the busy intersection may have dodged a bullet.

“This is an individual who was preparing for an assault.”

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Guns found in home of Curtis Smith on Langhorne-Yardley Road in Bucks