Two members of a Georgia militia — arrested late last year in a plot to bomb federal buildings, assassinate public officials and attack cities with deadly ricin — pleaded guilty today to conspiracy charges in a Gainesville, Ga., courtroom.

Accused ringleader Frederick W. Thomas, 73, and Emory Dan Roberts, 67, both entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiring to possess explosives and firearms.

The case was labeled by the FBI as one of its top domestic terrorism investigations of 2011 following the arrests of Thomas and Roberts and two others last November. ( continue to full post… )

The two remaining defendants in the government’s case against members of Michigan’s Hutaree Militia pleaded guilty today to federal firearms charges, just two days after a judge dismissed antigovernment conspiracy charges against the pair and five others.

David Stone Sr., 47, and his son Joshua Stone, 23, pleaded guilty to possessing machine guns. They admitted to U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts in a Detroit courtroom that they had two .223-caliber rifles, knowing that the weapons would fire automatically with one trigger pull. Possession of such firearms without proper registration is a federal crime.

After the pleas were entered, the elder Stone – identified by authorities as the Hutaree leader – told the Detroit Free Press that he thinks the case “will only lead to more mistrust of the government by militias.” ( continue to full post… )

A federal judge in Detroit today dismissed charges against seven members of the Hutaree militia who have been on trial for allegedly plotting to kill police officers in hopes of igniting a revolution against the government.

“The government’s case is built largely of circumstantial evidence,” U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said in a 28-page order dismissing the charges before the case was sent to a jury.

“While this evidence could certainly lead a rational fact finder to conclude that ‘something fishy’ was going on, it does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendants reached a concrete agreement to forcibly oppose the United States Government,” the judge  wrote. ( continue to full post… )

A jury in Detroit today began the task of attempting to determine whether a heavily armed Christian militia group was embarking on an armed confrontation with the federal government or merely living in a fantasy world of “recreation” and protected free speech.

Seven members of the Hutaree militia arrested in an FBI sweep last March are on trial in U.S. District Court on charges of seditious conspiracy – plotting the overthrow of the U.S. government – and the companion felonies of attempted use of weapons of mass destruction and possession of firearms during crimes of violence.  An eighth member has struck a plea bargain and may be a key prosecution witness during the trial, expected to last six to eight weeks.

“These individuals … wanted an armed confrontation with law enforcement and the federal government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline said in opening statements, the Detroit Free Press reported. ( continue to full post… )

Like this winter’s near-record snowfall in Alaska, federal criminal charges keep piling up against imprisoned militia leader Francis Schaeffer Cox.

With six additional federal charges filed in a superseding indictment just last Friday, the trial for Cox and Alaska Peacemaker Militia co-defendants Coleman L. Barney and Lonnie G. Vernon has been postponed from Feb. 6 to May 6.

The new federal indictment now includes federal murder conspiracy charges similar to state charges dismissed against Cox last October after a state judge ruled audio and video recording made during a six-month FBI investigation wouldn’t be admissible in state court. Those recordings and testimony from two confidential informants are expected to be the backbone of the federal prosecution. ( continue to full post… )

A man whose nickname is “Mouse” is the first member of the Hutaree Militia to strike a plea deal with the Justice Department to avoid the possibility of a lengthy federal prison sentence.

Joshua John Clough, 29, of Blissfield Township, Mich., pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence – a federal crime that carries a five-year minimum sentence.

Clough was one of nine members of the Hutaree Militia arrested in March 2010 and charged in a plot to make homemade bombs as part of a conspiracy to murder scores of law enforcement officers. Charging documents allege “Mouse” and his co-conspirators hoped the killing of cops would spark a large uprising against the federal government. A superseding indictment returned in June 2010 accuses the defendants of seditious conspiracy and a host of other serious federal crimes. ( continue to full post… )

Heavily armed members of the Alaska Peacemaker Militia, equipped with live grenades and assault rifles, stopped private citizens, demanded identifications and prevented some from traveling to their homes and jobs, a new indictment alleges.

The indictment includes serious additional federal charges against militia leader Francis Schaeffer Cox and commanders Coleman L. Barney and Lonnie G. Vernon. Additionally, the new charging document also provides expanded details about how well supplied and organized the militia group had become before FBI agents arrested Cox and the others in March. ( continue to full post… )

Why would a 53-year-old woman be carrying around recipes for homemade  explosives and information on the deadly poison ricin?

Federal authorities in Alaska say they aren’t sure. And they don’t know where Mary Ann Morgan was heading when she was arrested in late October as she attempted to enter Canada, possibly en route to the lower 48 states. ( continue to full post… )

All Darren Wesley Huff wanted to do was arrest some county officials in Tennessee who refused to indict President Obama for using a fraudulent birth certificate. The problem is, that’s not really a criminal offense. And Huff had no authority anyway.

But he was a member of the Georgia Militia and the Oath Keepers, both antigovernment “Patriot” groups that see the federal government – and, presumably, Obama – as part of a global conspiracy to establish a socialistic, one-world government.  ( continue to full post… )

A state judge in Alaska has ruled that more than 100 hours of audio and video surveillance is inadmissible in the trial of Schaeffer Cox, the boyish militia leader who was arrested last year after stockpiling weapons in connection to a plot to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks judge.

Superior Court Judge David Stewart said the audio and video recordings produced during a six-month FBI investigation violated the Alaska state constitution because they were made without a search warrant. While Monday’s ruling damages the state’s case, it has no bearing on federal weapons charges faced by Cox and his accomplices. ( continue to full post… )