"Misled by the ATF"? Who would'a thunk it?
Posted on 05/23/2002 5:45:36 AM PDT by toddst
Posted on Thu, May. 23, 2002
Kentucky Militia leader Charlie Puckett's attorneys argued yesterday that five of 10 charges against their client should be dropped because the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms led him to believe his permit was OK, then arrested him.
Puckett truthfully filled out the permit application, which failed to ask whether he was a convicted felon but instead posed specific questions about drunken-driving, drug and other convictions, defense attorney Patrick Nash told U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman during a hearing yesterday.
When Puckett showed an ATF agent the permit, he was never told it was invalid and was allowed to keep it, which means he was entrapped by federal agents, Nash argued.
Coffman, however, did not agree that the permit gave Puckett the go-ahead to have an arsenal of guns, weapons and ammunition at his Garrard County home. "Possession of the certificate doesn't shield him from federal prosecution," she said as she overruled the motion to dismiss five charges against Puckett, whose three-day trial begins Tuesday.
Puckett received the concealed-weapon permit several years ago.
At the time, his 1966 conviction for breaking into a Virginia store failed to show up during a nationwide background check, so the Kentucky State Police had no cause to deny the permit application, said Lt. Lisa Rudzinski.
Later, the felony conviction was discovered, and the permit was revoked, she said.
Puckett is charged with being a felon who illegally owned guns, pipe bombs, and almost 35,000 rounds of ammunition. He has claimed that the charges cannot apply to him because the federal gun-control act that prohibits felons from having guns was enacted in 1968, two years after his conviction.
He did win one motion during yesterday's pretrial hearing that will prevent prosecutors from painting a portrait of Puckett, also charged with intimidating a witness, as a man who routinely threatens his detractors.
Coffman ruled that unless the defense brings up the matter of Puckett's long-standing distrust and dislike of government, prosecutors will not be allowed to put on evidence that shows Puckett "declared war" on the ATF and headed up militia training on how members could assault ATF agents, among other things.
Said Coffman: "Even if it were relevant, it's far too inflammatory and prejudicial to put before a jury."
"Misled by the ATF"? Who would'a thunk it?
I will post everything that shows up on this trial, if no one else does. There are several important issues to be sorted out in this case that have implications for gun owners nationwide - plus what the ATF is given latitude to do in pursuit of an "offender."
You are correct. I don't agree with the interpretation that says a person who has completely served his debt to society and released cannot have a gun. Either the ex-con is a full citizen or he isn't. What other rights does he lose? His right to vote can be restored, so why not gun ownership also?
Some of them might be surprised to find out they have committed a few unwittingly, too, and just never gotten caught. People seem to think of rape and murder when they think of felonies, and don't stop to think about what a complex and soulless monster the legal code really is, and how bad it can get if you are ever unfortunate enough to get caught up in it.
Since the '68 Gun Control Act... Millions of Felons have been legislated into existence... Many of whom, have commited no crime involving firearms in any way.
What is wrong with this picture?
10-4. However, I would add " and victim."
FREEeeegards! ... and thanks much to Mr. Toddst who will keep us posted as to the case of Mr. Puckett.
Ex-militia leader pleads guilty
Charlie Puckett admits 3 charges; 7 others dropped
By Louise Taylor---HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
In an abrupt turnaround from his previous feisty rhetoric, former Kentucky Militia leader Charlie Puckett pleaded guilty yesterday to three of the 10 federal charges against him and agreed to a sentence that could stretch to just over three years.
Specifically, Puckett, 55, admitted that he:
-- had tried in early March to intimidate an unidentified witness against him;
-- illegally altered a gun to make it a fully automatic SKS machine gun; and
-- was a felon illegally in possession of a pistol.
"Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty and not for other reasons?" U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer B. Coffman asked Puckett.
"Yes, ma'am," Puckett replied.
The remaining charges, having to do with possession of pipe bombs, mines and ammunition, will be dropped at his sentencing Aug. 29, said Puckett's attorney, Gatewood Galbraith. Puckett also has to forfeit an arsenal the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seized from his Garrard County house last year.
Puckett was to go on trial Tuesday.
"It was a decent deal," Galbraith said. "He was looking at 10 years if he went to trial, and Charlie's just not built for that kind of time."
Under the plea agreement, Puckett will serve between 30 and 37 months in prison. He could also face a fine of up to $250,000.
Coffman's pretrial rulings in the case and the possible shakiness of a key defense witness helped persuade Puckett that the plea deal was to his advantage, Galbraith said. Without the witness, he said Puckett "was going to be left without a defense."
Coffman noted that the plea seemed a relief to Puckett. "You're more relaxed than I've seen you before, Mr. Puckett," she said, smiling from the bench.
Puckett -- who the ATF says told a call-in radio show in 2000 that Coffman was a know-nothing who had illegally ordered the Ten Commandments removed from the McCreary County courthouse -- grinned widely and silently nodded his agreement.
"Once he made the decision, you could tell it was a great burden off his shoulders," Galbraith said later. "Mr. Puckett is a simple man. He's a mechanic and a family man. ... Once he became a figurehead for the Kentucky Militia, it became burdensome. He is just not a political animal."
Puckett, who has been the commander and self-described brigadier general of the Kentucky Militia -- a paramilitary group that experts think is among the most active in the country -- has completely cut his ties with the group, Galbraith said.
Puckett was indicted in February, a few months after ATF agents raided his Garrard County home and found almost 35,000 rounds of ammunition, pipe bombs, guns and The Anarchist's Cookbook, a how-to manual for domestic terrorism. Puckett never shied from his dislike of the ATF, and posted a sign near his driveway that announced "ATF Don't Cross This Line" above a hangman's noose hanging from a tree.
The ATF was led to Puckett while searching for Stephen Anderson, a former Kentucky Militia member who was accused of shooting up a Bell County deputy sheriff's cruiser in October, then disappeared. Anderson has not been found, despite a $20,000 reward offered by the ATF.
After the indictment was issued in February, Puckett was placed on house arrest, but in March he slipped his electronic monitoring bracelet and was on the lam for about three weeks before he voluntarily turned himself in to Jessamine County Sheriff Joe Walker.
Puckett has argued that he was allowed to own firearms because the federal law that prohibits felons from gun ownership was not enacted until 1968, two years after his felony conviction for breaking into a Virginia store.
He also has several misdemeanor convictions in Virginia and Kentucky, including indecent exposure and disorderly conduct, all dating from the 1960s and '70s, according to the ATF. The ATF sworn statement says that after one disorderly-conduct arrest in Versailles in 1972, Puckett was referred to psychiatrists at the University of Kentucky. That arrest was his last before the federal charges this year. (END STORY)
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I cannot believe that Puckett rolled over this easy...so much for the "ex post facto" defense.
Also, as of now, every Kentucky militia website is offline. Coincidence?
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