A former Coquille pastor who reportedly stopped paying income taxes in the 1990s, believing tax laws didn’t apply to him, will now be the recipient of tax support for the next eight years as a federal prisoner. Seventy-one year old Ronald Joling and his 73-year old wife Dorthea Joling fled Coos Co. in 2014 following their conviction on tax evasion charges. The two were later found and arrested by Federal Marshals in Arizona. A federal judge on Dec. 3 in Eugene ordered the couple to liquidate all of their assets and payback the government $1.2 million. The two had also owned a motel in Coquille. Dorthea Joling, who claimed in court she was only following her husband’s direction, received a sentence of four years.
