FMF DOC
06-18-2008, 04:39
Just looking for some thoughts on this. I understand that making explosive devices is illegal but what are your thoughts on making of firearms?
LUCINDA PA- Residents of the Lucinda community are describing the federal firearms case against local muffler shop owner Morgan Jones as rather incredible.
Jones was ordered detained Tuesday on charges pending trial following a hearing in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh that lasted about five hours over the course of three days.
FBI agents conducted a raid of his Lawn Drive home on June 8.
A grand jury indictment alleges Jones, 64, did knowingly and unlawfully transfer and deliver a Romanian AK 47 assault rifle to an out-of-state individual who was not licensed as an importer, manufacturer, dealer or collector.
Authorities have said Jones is a captain in the 91st Warrior militia, which engages in illegal weapons dealings and anti-government activities.
Evidence was presented Tuesday at the detention hearing that Jones had a variety of homemade weapons, including a flame-thrower, cannon and 50-caliber weapon.
Prosecutors called the property a time bomb and suggested Jones was intent on using the items.
REACTION IN LUCINDA
Karen Wolbert has been Jones' neighbor for 36 years and says he was invited to graduation parties for all four of her children.
She describes him as trustworthy, friendly, intelligent and always willing to help someone in a bind.
"I think this (case against him) is just horrible," she said Tuesday.
She said she and others in Lucinda feel the charges are trumped-up.
"He will do anything for anybody," said Wolbert. "He appealed to every generation . . . and is one of the happiest" people.
"He would not hurt anybody," added Wolbert.
A young man who did not want to be named said everyone he knows has gone to Jones' shop, Morgan's Motors, for various vehicle needs.
"He was one of the best exhaust benders in the county by far," said the man. "Everyone collects guns. He's far from a terrorist."
Jones - a former science instructor - was one of five individuals arrested in a terrorism task force investigation in western Pennsylvania.
His detention hearing began Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Amy Reynolds Hay and was continued Monday and Tuesday.
Jones' wife, Donna, said previously she believed the charges would be exaggerated and accuses federal agents of overkill for arresting her husband as he left church June 8.
"All they had to do was knock on the door," she said.
Jones was represented by court-appointed attorney Richard Schomaker of Pittsburgh.
He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, but he has said the government is overreacting.
OTHER CASES
Last week, Hay ordered a Clearfield County man and a Rimersburg man to remain jailed pending trial following separate detention hearings.
Marvin E. Hall, 49, of Rimersburg faces weapons charges after an FBI raid at his Lawsonham Street home on June 8.
Perry Landis, 61, of Clearfield County, is an alleged officer for a militia claiming 200 members.
He is accused of giving an undercover agent blasting caps twice in the last year.
Hall's live-in girlfriend, Melissa Huet, 34, has also been charged with helping Hall possess weapons in violation of the law.
He has a 1999 federal weapons conviction.
Huet is to appear before a federal magistrate on June 26.
She has said an informant gave the government information about the men.
Another defendant, Bradley T. Kahle, 60, of Troutville, was released after a detention hearing Wednesday in Johnstown.
He is charged with unlawfully possessing firearms - namely improvised explosive devices - and was confined to home detention and prohibited from obtaining a passport.
FBI special agent Daniel Yocca has testified the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes state police, federal agents and others, began investigating militia activity in western Pennsylvania in 2005.
Federal law requires proof that the defendants are either a danger to the community or a risk to flee prosecution or both to ask for detention.
Another neighbor of Jones said he is a "very good person" who is a lector and a Eucharistic minister.
LUCINDA PA- Residents of the Lucinda community are describing the federal firearms case against local muffler shop owner Morgan Jones as rather incredible.
Jones was ordered detained Tuesday on charges pending trial following a hearing in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh that lasted about five hours over the course of three days.
FBI agents conducted a raid of his Lawn Drive home on June 8.
A grand jury indictment alleges Jones, 64, did knowingly and unlawfully transfer and deliver a Romanian AK 47 assault rifle to an out-of-state individual who was not licensed as an importer, manufacturer, dealer or collector.
Authorities have said Jones is a captain in the 91st Warrior militia, which engages in illegal weapons dealings and anti-government activities.
Evidence was presented Tuesday at the detention hearing that Jones had a variety of homemade weapons, including a flame-thrower, cannon and 50-caliber weapon.
Prosecutors called the property a time bomb and suggested Jones was intent on using the items.
REACTION IN LUCINDA
Karen Wolbert has been Jones' neighbor for 36 years and says he was invited to graduation parties for all four of her children.
She describes him as trustworthy, friendly, intelligent and always willing to help someone in a bind.
"I think this (case against him) is just horrible," she said Tuesday.
She said she and others in Lucinda feel the charges are trumped-up.
"He will do anything for anybody," said Wolbert. "He appealed to every generation . . . and is one of the happiest" people.
"He would not hurt anybody," added Wolbert.
A young man who did not want to be named said everyone he knows has gone to Jones' shop, Morgan's Motors, for various vehicle needs.
"He was one of the best exhaust benders in the county by far," said the man. "Everyone collects guns. He's far from a terrorist."
Jones - a former science instructor - was one of five individuals arrested in a terrorism task force investigation in western Pennsylvania.
His detention hearing began Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Amy Reynolds Hay and was continued Monday and Tuesday.
Jones' wife, Donna, said previously she believed the charges would be exaggerated and accuses federal agents of overkill for arresting her husband as he left church June 8.
"All they had to do was knock on the door," she said.
Jones was represented by court-appointed attorney Richard Schomaker of Pittsburgh.
He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, but he has said the government is overreacting.
OTHER CASES
Last week, Hay ordered a Clearfield County man and a Rimersburg man to remain jailed pending trial following separate detention hearings.
Marvin E. Hall, 49, of Rimersburg faces weapons charges after an FBI raid at his Lawsonham Street home on June 8.
Perry Landis, 61, of Clearfield County, is an alleged officer for a militia claiming 200 members.
He is accused of giving an undercover agent blasting caps twice in the last year.
Hall's live-in girlfriend, Melissa Huet, 34, has also been charged with helping Hall possess weapons in violation of the law.
He has a 1999 federal weapons conviction.
Huet is to appear before a federal magistrate on June 26.
She has said an informant gave the government information about the men.
Another defendant, Bradley T. Kahle, 60, of Troutville, was released after a detention hearing Wednesday in Johnstown.
He is charged with unlawfully possessing firearms - namely improvised explosive devices - and was confined to home detention and prohibited from obtaining a passport.
FBI special agent Daniel Yocca has testified the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes state police, federal agents and others, began investigating militia activity in western Pennsylvania in 2005.
Federal law requires proof that the defendants are either a danger to the community or a risk to flee prosecution or both to ask for detention.
Another neighbor of Jones said he is a "very good person" who is a lector and a Eucharistic minister.