CHICKEN BUCKETS: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USES PEDOPHILE INFORMANT TO TESTIFY AGAINST SENIOR CITIZENS!

Lawyer: Men accused in militia plot had no plans

By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press

AP Photo/Richard Miller

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Prosecutors have described a group of four Georgia militia members as a dangerous cabal plotting to unleash an arsenal of weapons and poison on the federal government. Their attorneys described them Tuesday as a bunch of ailing old men shooting the breeze with no specific plans and targeted by an informant with a checkered past.

Troubling recordings of the men talking were played in federal court Tuesday at their bond hearing. One told the others they need to "do whatever it takes" and another declared: "The first ones that need to die are the ones in the government buildings."

Their attorneys said the recordings showed the men exercising their constitutional rights to arm themselves and express their political views. They said comments about the alleged plot that were taken out of context, and attacked the credibility of the undercover informant who recorded them.

Frederick Thomas, 73, and Dan Roberts, 67, are accused of conspiring to obtain an explosive and possessing an unregistered silencer. Ray Adams, 55, and Samuel Crump, 68, are charged with conspiring and attempting to make ricin, a deadly biological toxin.

Thomas' defense attorney, Jeff Ertel, said the group was planning to unite the various militia factions in Georgia into a "governor's army" to serve the state. An FBI agent testified they planned to reach new members at militia gatherings and through courses in First Aid and gardening.

But prosecutors said the men took a series of concrete steps toward carrying out a violent plot. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney said the men cased two federal buildings in Atlanta, obtained an illegal silencer, tried to purchase a briefcase-sized explosive from an undercover agent and attempted to make ricin from castor beans.

He also said that Thomas, described as the ringleader, talked of targeting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney. And he said Thomas had stockpiled a small arsenal of weapons - 52 guns and 30,000 rounds of ammunition - at his home in the Georgia mountains.

Ertel used part of Tuesday's hearing to attack the credibility of the confidential informant who recorded the conversations. He said the informant has had a series of legal troubles, including two recent charges in South Carolina of child pornography and child molestation that involved a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old. Those charges are still pending, but the informant was released from jail on bond.

The prosecutor said the informant first contacted FBI agents in July 2010 and that authorities are confident in his credibility because his statements were corroborated by other sources and by the audio recordings. He played several recordings, including one clip of Thomas speaking of targeting "enemies of the Constitution" with weapons and explosives.

He also played aloud another tape where Thomas talked of attacking "civilian government operatives" with the FBI and other government agencies. Roberts was heard telling the group to "do whatever it takes" and Adams said on the tape: "The first ones that need to die are the ones in the government buildings."

Some family members of the suspects quietly shook their heads as the tapes played Tuesday.

The four allegedly boasted of a list of government officials who needed to be "taken out;" talked about scattering ricin from a plane or a car speeding down a highway past major U.S. cities; and scouted tax offices, with one man saying, "We'd have to blow the whole building like Timothy McVeigh," a reference to the man executed for bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Federal investigators said they had the men under surveillance for at least seven months, using an undercover informant to infiltrate their meetings at a Waffle House, homes and other places, before finally arresting them in early November. The arrests came in early November, just days after authorities discovered evidence they were trying to extract ricin from castor beans at Adams' home.

At the hearing, attorneys for the four men gave a glimpse into their defense strategies.

Thomas' lawyer suggested his client, a great-grandfather who suffers from a long list of illnesses, was too old and infirm to carry out the plot. Roberts' attorney contended he was a "bump on the log" who didn't intend to carry out any attacks. Barry Lombardo, who represents Adams, said the only proof against his client is a few "harmless" castor bean plants.

And Crump's attorney, Dan Summer, said prosecutors only had a few muffled recordings as evidence his client was trying to make a bioterror weapon. He said Crump was only being boastful, and would never have actually tried to make the toxin.

"Mr. Crump was puffing, bragging," said Summer. "Isn't that what he was doing, talking smack?"

Relatives of the men have repeatedly said they were patriotic, law-abiding citizens who were just making idle chatter, and even some federal investigators privately refer to them as "The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight."

Some details from the hearing even elicited stifled grins from the crowd, such as when investigators said Thomas got lost on his way to Atlanta and refused to use his GPS for fear of being tracked by the government.

But authorities said the charges are no laughing matter. McBurney said investigators grew particularly alarmed when they discovered that Adams and Crump managed to get a bucket of castor beans, which later tested positive for ricin. The men were arrested a day after the discovery.

"Prior to that there had been a lot of talk," Korneski said. "Once we determined they had the main ingredient, it significantly increased our concern."