In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
LEX 18 Follow-Up: Former Militia Leader/Fugitive S
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
LEX 18 Follow-Up: Former Militia Leader/Fugitive Sentenced
Lexington, KY, Aug. 29 - The former head of the Kentucky State Militia has been sentenced to 30 months and one day in prison on federal weapons charges. Charles N. Puckett, 55, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty in May to two weapons charges and one count of intimidating a witness in a deal that resulted in the dismissal of eight other charges.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman imposed the sentence, saying Puckett also will serve three years supervised probation upon his release, participate in a mental health program and pay a $300 special assessment.
"I believe that all of the attorneys involved were diligent in crafting an agreement that was appropriate to this case," Coffman said.
Puckett's attorney, Gatewood Galbraith, told Coffman he had several people in the courtroom to speak on Puckett's behalf, including two Kentucky sheriffs. Coffman, however, said those statements would not be necessary.
"Charlie has always had a desire to stand up as a contributing member of society," Galbraith said. "He's always tried to be a patriot and someone who overcame a difficult start. I stand here and vouch for him right now. He is a good man."
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seized guns and other weapons from Puckett's home in Lancaster last November. Authorities claimed Puckett was barred from owning the weapons because of a previous felony conviction.
Puckett was arrested in February and put under house arrest, but officials said he managed to slip out of an electronic monitoring bracelet and flee from his home on March 14th. He turned himself in to authorities about three weeks later, saying he left after receiving death threats.
He was scheduled to go to trial in May on 11 counts that involved guns, pipe bombs and almost 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
Under the plea agreement, Puckett admitted possessing a machine gun and a .45-caliber handgun even though he had previously been convicted of a felony. He also admitted to attempting to intimidate a witness.
Before being sentenced, Puckett, led into the courtroom in a green jumpsuit, sandals and shackles around his legs, briefly addressed the court.
"I want the court to know there was no criminal activity intended on my behalf," he said. "I had no idea I was violating any law at all.
"If it would be possible, I would beg the court for probation or a lesser sentence."
Puckett has called the seizure a theft of private property and a violation of his rights. He also has argued that the 1968 federal gun-control act prohibiting felons from owning guns does not apply to him because he was convicted of the felony two years before the law's enactment.
Puckett was the commander of the Kentucky State Militia, a civilian paramilitary group, until resigning from the post last September.
His February arrest came just as he finished a television show interview about Steve Anderson, a fugitive accused of shooting at a patrol car in Bell County in October.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/WLEX/M220797.asp?0ct=-302&cp1=1
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Lexington, KY, Aug. 29 - The former head of the Kentucky State Militia has been sentenced to 30 months and one day in prison on federal weapons charges. Charles N. Puckett, 55, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty in May to two weapons charges and one count of intimidating a witness in a deal that resulted in the dismissal of eight other charges.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman imposed the sentence, saying Puckett also will serve three years supervised probation upon his release, participate in a mental health program and pay a $300 special assessment.
"I believe that all of the attorneys involved were diligent in crafting an agreement that was appropriate to this case," Coffman said.
Puckett's attorney, Gatewood Galbraith, told Coffman he had several people in the courtroom to speak on Puckett's behalf, including two Kentucky sheriffs. Coffman, however, said those statements would not be necessary.
"Charlie has always had a desire to stand up as a contributing member of society," Galbraith said. "He's always tried to be a patriot and someone who overcame a difficult start. I stand here and vouch for him right now. He is a good man."
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seized guns and other weapons from Puckett's home in Lancaster last November. Authorities claimed Puckett was barred from owning the weapons because of a previous felony conviction.
Puckett was arrested in February and put under house arrest, but officials said he managed to slip out of an electronic monitoring bracelet and flee from his home on March 14th. He turned himself in to authorities about three weeks later, saying he left after receiving death threats.
He was scheduled to go to trial in May on 11 counts that involved guns, pipe bombs and almost 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
Under the plea agreement, Puckett admitted possessing a machine gun and a .45-caliber handgun even though he had previously been convicted of a felony. He also admitted to attempting to intimidate a witness.
Before being sentenced, Puckett, led into the courtroom in a green jumpsuit, sandals and shackles around his legs, briefly addressed the court.
"I want the court to know there was no criminal activity intended on my behalf," he said. "I had no idea I was violating any law at all.
"If it would be possible, I would beg the court for probation or a lesser sentence."
Puckett has called the seizure a theft of private property and a violation of his rights. He also has argued that the 1968 federal gun-control act prohibiting felons from owning guns does not apply to him because he was convicted of the felony two years before the law's enactment.
Puckett was the commander of the Kentucky State Militia, a civilian paramilitary group, until resigning from the post last September.
His February arrest came just as he finished a television show interview about Steve Anderson, a fugitive accused of shooting at a patrol car in Bell County in October.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/WLEX/M220797.asp?0ct=-302&cp1=1
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
The piece of metal that cost him his freedom was apparently left there by Steve Anderson, an associate of Charlie's.
Stand And Be Counted