The federal government is attempting to make everyday life for convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown so uncomfortable they will surrender and begin serving their 63-month federal prison sentence.

Stephen Monier, U.S. marshal in New Hampshire, said yesterday the government has severed the Browns' telephone service, Internet access and power to their hilltop home in Plainfield.

He acknowledged, however, that other people are supplying the Browns with laptop computers, providing them with Internet access. Ed Brown also built his home with solar panels and windmills for power and also has backup generators.

But, Monier said, patience is a virtue and the federal government is prepared to wait out the Browns.

"We have no intention of assaulting the house," he said again yesterday. "We are committed to end this peacefully."

He said there are no federal agents in Plainfield or surveillance teams in camouflage watching the fortified home at 401 Center of Town Road.

The Internet is rife with rumors, he said.

On Tuesday, his office was swamped with callers, he said - at one point about 200 calls an hour were being handled - expressing sentiments such as "Don't kill the Browns," "Leave them alone," and "They didn't do anything."

The calls, he said, were prompted by an web site urging people to call his office as well as that of the Sullivan County sheriff and the governor.

The Browns have been holed up in their home since last January after their convictions. Ed Brown has threatened violence if federal agents attempt to arrest them.

Last Thursday, dozens of heavily armed federal agents and state troopers, including SWAT teams and military and explosives vehicles, converged on Plainfield. Agents had a court order to enter the West Lebanon building housing Elaine Brown's dental practice.

That morning, a man walking the Browns' dog inadvertently came upon a surveillance team of U.S. federal agents in camouflage in the woods at the end of the couple's driveway. He was taken into custody, questioned at length and was released hours later uncharged.

Ed Brown said he was convinced the federal agents were going to storm his home that day, but Monier denies that.

The Browns were convicted of plotting to hide their income to avoid paying federal income taxes on Elaine Brown's income of $1.9 million between 1996 and 2003.

They also were convicted of using $215,890 in postal money orders, cashed in smaller amounts to avoid tax-reporting levels, to pay for their home and her dental office.

The Browns were sentenced to 63 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $215,890 to the federal government.

Brown felt federal raid was 'imminent'

Convicted tax evader Ed Brown believes federal marshals planned to raid his home Thursday, but were stymied by a supporter out walking the Browns' dog.

"Did I think the raid was imminent? Yeah. I was notified that they were on their way," he told The Associated Press yesterday.

On Thursday, heavily armed state police officers from Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, along with federal agents, converged to seize Dr. Elaine Brown's former dental office on Glen Road in West Lebanon.

In Plainfield, Danny Riley of New Jersey was taken into custody while walking the Browns' dog. He inadvertently discovered a surveillance team of federal agents in the woods near the Browns' driveway, authorities said.

Riley posted a video on the Internet in which he said agents fired two shots at him and zapped him with a stun gun.

The source said agents never shot at Riley, but confirmed he was hit with the stun gun after he ran from the agents.

Riley, in the video, said he was walking the dog about 8 a.m. when he came across a man wearing camouflage in the woods near the end of the Browns' driveway.

"What are you doing, turkey hunting?" he called out.

He said the man yelled out, "Freeze" and Riley ran. He said two bullets whizzed by him. Then six other camouflaged men "popped up" from either side of the driveway, yelling, "Freeze. Freeze."

Riley said he put his hands up, told them he was unarmed and screamed for them not to kill him.

Then, he said, he was stunned with a "50,000-volt taser and I was done." In the video, the bare-chested Riley points to a mark on his left shoulder and says that was left from the stun gun.

The men, he said, had U.S. Marshals Special Operations Unit written on their camouflaged suits.

Riley was questioned for hours by the agents who, he said on the video, wanted to know who was inside the Browns' home, how many guns there were and if there were any bombs.

He said he saw four armored personnel carriers along with helicopters, ambulances and law enforcement personnel armed with M-16 rifles.

Riley later was taken to the Lebanon Police Department where, he said, he was strip-searched. He was released hours later without being charged with any offense.

Riley was then dropped off near the Brown's property with instructions to tell them a seizure order was served at the former dental office. The Browns, Riley said, already knew that. Neighbors, he said, had called them by 8:45 a.m. telling them about the police presence in town.

The Browns, who stopped paying federal income tax in 1996, were charged in May 2005 with felony tax evasion and convicted in January. The couple were sentenced in absentia to 5 1/4 years in prison April 24.

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has said agents were conducting surveillance of the Brown home and of their supporters.

"We had no intention of assaulting the house," Monier told The Associated Press.

Monier said yesterday his office will "continue on the same course," continuing contact with Brown in an attempt to have him and his wife surrender to authorities and begin serving their prison sentence.

"We will move forward in a calm, measured deliberate way to get this resolved peacefully," he said.

The safety of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who owns 167 acres in Plainfield near the Browns, did "not really" play into Thursday's overwhelming police presence there, a top law enforcement official said yesterday.

Breyer's property is on Center of Town Road, about a half-mile from the Browns' home, which is on 110 acres, according to Town Administrator Steve Halleran.

He said the Browns' property does not front Center of Town Road, and he does not believe it abuts Breyer's.

Breyer is known to vacation at the property, where he has a cabin on Moses Pond. Last summer, he surprised local residents when he read the Declaration of Independence at the town's annual Fourth of July parade.