- An AK-47 seized from Saddam Hussein’s Royal Guard, belonging to Twentynine Palms Marine Joel Cleve Miller. Posted on 07/03/2012 9:21:12 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Hemet: Marine convicted of smuggling rifle from Saddam palace
- An AK-47 seized from Saddam Hussein’s Royal Guard, belonging to Twentynine Palms Marine Joel Cleve Miller.
Federal prosecutors said former Staff Sgt. Joel Cleve Miller, 40, was found guilty of possession of an illegal chrome AK-47 that he smuggled back from Iraq during a 14-month tour in 2005.
When he returned to his home in Hemet, he bragged to several friends that he smuggled the gun back after it once belonged to Saddam Hussein’s Royal Guard.
The U.S. Marine Corps discharged Miller in December 2011 after 20 years in the military for approving false travel claims and stealing from the U.S. Government.
Miller was indicted by a Riverside Grand Jury in 2010 of three charges of illegal possession of a machine gun. A federal jury in Riverside last week acquitted him of possession of another gun.
He could face up to 10 years in federal prison. He is set be sentenced Sept. 27 by Riverside federal Judge Virginia A. Philips.
The case was part of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service search for illegal automatic weapons in the United States.
“This case sends a strong message that we will continue to investigate those who illegally possess and distribute dangerous weapons such as machine guns,” NCIS Acting Supervisory Special Agent Albert Nelson stated. “We will continue our efforts to remove these weapons form (sic) the streets where they put innocent lives at risk.”
It would be interesting to know who is going to get that thing. Somebody will. It will just “disappear”.
Homer screwed up hard.
Spoils of war. Something like that should probably be in a museum.
WWI & WWII soldiers brought back all kinds of stuff. No big deal.
America came into existence thanks to privately owned cannon and armed private vessels. It is time to return to those eternal principles recently validated by SOCTUS when it recognized the Second Amendment as recognizing a preexisting Natural Law.
I’d like the government to get out of the business of regulating what weapons an American may own.
Oh wait, that wasn't a "war".
They are all up his case because this is full auto, but they probably would have burned him for a Tariq pistol nowadays
During the Great War, or even WW2, this would have been totally legit to possess.
Perhaps the fact that this weapon could be fully automatic and not the crippled “civilian version” could have been what motivated the arrest.
Hemet is in CA after all, correct?
To the victorious king go the spoils I guess
This guy, who spent 20 years serving this country in the Marine Corps could go to prison for 10 years for bringing home one little gun!!!!! Yet Holder orders that thousands of guns walk across the border to Mexican terrorists and he will get probably a slap on the wrist (if even that). America has truely turned the righteous into the outlaws and the outlaws into the rulers. It’s time for a revolution (but I wont hold my breath).
Holder wants to send it to Mexico. I say let the guy go, thank him for his service, give the gun to the NRA museum.
Correct.
The case was part of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
And CA is in the United States. So it's related to all those crazy liberal nuts in the U.S. and their liberal anti-gun laws.
Correct.
The case was part of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
And CA is in the United States. So it's related to all those crazy liberal nuts in the U.S. and their liberal anti-gun laws.
We also were allowed to from Viet Nam, with the right paper work.
He was enlisted (completely and conveniently expendable).
He screwed the pooch big time.
An example will be made in politically expedient time.
He was discharged by the Marines for making false claims so this may not be such a clear cut travesty.
Loose Lips Sink Ships
and other stuff too.
He should have sold it on “Pawn Stars”.
Forgot to add that a lot of Viet Nam Vets, had house fires and Boating accidents, and lost them all. What a shame piece of History gone.
Holder is the one who should be prosecuted. AFter what he has done, he’s got no right to prosecute anybody for anything having to do with guns.
Yes, but does it have a chrome lined bore & chamber?
I agree, ScubieNuc. He was convicted in federal court for possessing the gun, but they never proved where it came from. No matter, it sounds like the military discharged him for bringing it home and “stealing” it from them, I guess.
NCIS doesn’t miss a trick. It sounds like they got him kicked out of the military then found a way to charge him in federal court as a civilian.
Probably.
There were two huge differences then. Those were actual wars, not cannon-fodder theaters with absurd treasonous rules of engagement. If political correcteness ruled our country back then, 90% of returning soldiers would have ended up in jail. And today we would all be speaking German and Japanese and Russian today.
True, more needs to be known, but the truth remains that the working man, the little guy, gets the full weight of punishment if or when we step out of line, but those in power get a little slap on the wrist.
http://www.militarycorruption.com/fiscus2.htm
http://militarycorruption.com/kellysmith4.htm
Regardless of the travel charges, bringing one small gun into the America that didn’t (that we know of) get used to kill anyone or commit any crime can send this Marine to prison but Holder sending thousands of guns to Mexican terrorists gets nothing!!!
Same as my wanting to stuff the full auto trigger group from a carbine in my duffel bag to later install in a stateside gun. Sold the whole thing in-country instead, again, lucky for me no doubt. What do you do with full auto guns if you do have them in a state where they are not legal?
Wonder if the AP photographer who smuggled an AK-47 into the US in a 6-reel stainless steel developing tank back in 1991 was ever prosecuted?
You said it!
Agree 110%
I remember seeing the Video of these Guys in the Palace, they were really excited, I can see him bagging something that nice. Holder Probably heard it existed, and wanted it for a wall hanger, and went after Him.
Holder has DOJ nullification for his gun running crimes so I think this soldier is due for jury nullification. Equality before the law.
ping
Guy should have been given a winning lottery ticket in addition to being awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Phonyazz PC law...
10 years my ass. He should be given an award for serving.
If they put him in a cage for 1 day, the entire corrupt government should resign en masse.
My pops smuggled one back from Vietnam. Sadly, he sold it to a friend long ago...
During Vietnam war, 1965-1975, returning GI`s brought AK-47`s, grenades etc openly right thru San Francisco Airport on their way to Travis AFB for flights home. I was the transport driver for them for 5 years and nobody even blinked an eye at the SF Airport. Ditto for Korean war GI`s who brought home Russian rifles with bayonets, carbines, etc and walked proudly displaying their trophies in every 4th of July parade I remember as a kid. This country has strayed from reality into lala land. Let`s take it back.
“This case sends a strong message that we will continue to investigate those who illegally possess and distribute dangerous weapons such as machine guns,” NCIS Acting Supervisory Special Agent Albert Nelson stated. “We will continue our efforts to remove these weapons form (sic) the streets where they put innocent lives at risk.”
Guess they have no jurisdiction over Mr Holder.
This comment is actually about BEE ESS, because after the word distribute, things turn to BEE ESS.
There is a certain gent in Oklahoma I knew in 2003/4 who had brought back a Kalashnikov from Viet Nam hidden in equipment. One of those really good chaps - he invited me to his farm for a whole afternoon and we had a good time, even though we’d never met before then (it was a church thing). I am sure there is a lot of ‘stuff’ that came back after Viet Nam inside speakers and other equipment. The gun was full auto, but this is in Oklahoma (where people tend to use logic in deciding whether to report someone to the authorities), and thus he has had it for decades now. It is also in a farm, surrounded by friends, and people tend to mind their own business unless one becomes a bother. I am still surprised at how welcoming the guy was. To this day. Its not every day one gets treated as family by a total stranger. Generally, my time in Oklahoma was marked by almost constant surprise at the level of honesty, grace and warmness by the people. Absolutely amazing. Comparing that with, for example, Minnesota, showed a stark difference (maybe it is the cold weather in Minnesota that makes people grumpy lol). Oklahoma will always be a second home (and that is the end of that attempted thread hijack). On the guns ...a lot of stuff came via speakers and stuff.
I brought six grenades home from Nam in the 70’s. Three were made inert and three got.....secured.
He only thought they were all friends.
I brought two bolt action rifles back from RVN. Found a little golf bag to carry them in & walked down the concourse in SF Airport with the bag over my shoulder & the muzzles sticking out with bayonets fixed. Try THAT nowadays.
Got deployed to Uzbekistan in 2003. Watched teary eyed as a brand new Krinkov AK was sawed in half. Brought some AK parts back.
What do guys in theater get crucified for now? They sell a legal AK pistol here, chrome or gold plate it & you got instant heirloom souvenir. Crazy.
CC
“He should have sold it on “Pawn Stars”.”
Rick wouldn’t have taken it. They aren’t licensed to deal in modern firearms.
I agree that this Marine screwed up big time. There is no deployment where it isn’t absolutely clear that no contraband of any kind, and great emphasis is placed on any kind of weapons, is permitted to be taken from country.
There is no doubt left in anyone’s mind. This Marine deserves to be punished for disobeying this order just as much as with any other order.
That said, let’s talk about the punishment. America’s fairness under the law is seriously lacking. There are people getting one year for murder...I posted such a link a few weeks back...and here’s a screw up that could get 10 years.
There is no way that that processes. The first is a mistake and the 2nd was a cold-blooded hiring someone to kill his wife. Is that finding an extreme case? Sure it is, but I could find lesser things: rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, etc. Aren’t all those worse than admiring a weapon and breaking rules to bring it home?
I think so. My gut says dismissal from service in disgrace is sufficient punishment. Add six months hard time or something like that, if necessary, because I think flagrant disobedience to an absolutely clear, reasonable order must be punished.
There’s no way, though, that it rises to the level of those other crimes mentioned.
Fixed it.
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