Michael Quiel Continues Fight for Innocence
Michael Quiel Honors Father-in-Law’s Dying Words in Bid to Sue for $135,000,000 Over Abuse of Process, Malicious Prosecution, RICO and More
By Ron Lee
Investigative Journalist

Michael Quiel
“You’ve got to fight them, Mike. I believe in you!” were Colonel John Lee’s last words, said to his son-in-law, Michael Quiel, regarding now proven to be false criminal charges Mike was facing. Colonel Lee knew Mike had to fight for his innocence, no matter what – that it was the only way for an innocent man to behave. According to Mike, his wife and Colonel Lee’s daughter, Victoria, had agreed with them both, that fighting was the right thing to do.

Christopher Rusch aka Christian Reeves
Now, over eleven years later, Mike is making good on his pledge to keep up the fight by filing a massive $135,000,000 civil lawsuit against the IRS, IRS agent Cheryl Bradley, Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Monica Edelstein (who is now a sitting judge in Arizona, AUSA David Stockwell, Michael Quiel’s former tax attorney and legal advisor, Christopher Rusch (now known as Christian Reeves) and others known or unknown.
Christopher Rusch, after being disbarred in the State of California, conveniently changed his name to Christian Reeves so he could continue scamming innocent individuals out of their hard-earned money – all under the no-so-watchful eye of the entire “justice system”.

Victoria Quiel
Unfortunately for Mike, Victoria has tapped out of the fight and their relationship, saying under oath in their recent divorce proceedings that she originally had wanted to settle with the IRS and not fight. This statement of hers is a direct contradiction to the statement quoted from Colonel John Lee from Michael Quiel’s book “Rigged”.
The suit filed in the United States District Court, District of Arizona on December 25, 2022, alleges Malicious Prosecution, Abuse of Process, Tortious Interference and RICO. It lays out evidence of collusion between government actors and Michael and Victoria’s attorney, Rusch/Reeves, all in an effort to convict Mike and his business partner for crimes that Rusch/Reeves was solely guilty of committing. It proves that prosecutors and Rusch/Reeves conspired to create testimony that would be used to convict Mike and his partner. The racketeering was done in an effort to adhere to the government’s agenda of prosecuting American’s who were using foreign banks as tax shelters, with, or in this case, without factual guilt.
The biggest evidence of Michael Quiel’s innocence was a $500,000.00 overpayment of tax refund check paid to Michael and Victoria by the IRS while he was being prosecuted for “trying to get out of paying taxes.” The jury rightly found Mike not guilty of conspiracy, and not guilty of FBAR violations, however, they wrongly found Mike guilty of filing false tax returns – keep in mind, Rusch/Reeves represented Michael and Victoria as their tax attorney, and they closely followed all of his advice.
It cost Michael his freedom for over ten months in prison and Michael and Victoria countless dollars fighting for his innocence prior to and since. Victoria’s prosecution was avoided as Mike acted as her shield. Michael worked for years and was finally able to get Victoria innocent spousal relief just months ago. Once Victoria’s spousal relief was in place she planned and then initiated divorce proceedings to end her marriage with Michael. Victoria has obviously opened herself up to great civil liability with the IRS as the civil end of their fight over taxes is still ongoing.
The US~Observer, who has extensively investigated Michael Quiel’s wrongful conviction, as well as Rusch/Reeves’ continued financial scams will continue to fight on behalf of Michael Quiel’s pursuit of vindication. See the articles below to read the articles on our complete and concise coverage of Michael Quiel’s case.
Michael Quiel deserves to have his day in court, and for the facts to be justly weighed.
Editor’s Note: Anyone with information on wrongdoing on the part of anyone named in this article is urged to contact the US~Observer at 541-474-7885 or by email to editor@usobserver.com.