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FBI Arrests West Virginia militia members
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Return FBI Arrests West Virginia militia members on charges they plotted to place explosives near the FBI facility in Clarksburg, which the bureau recently opened as its fingerprint records center.
Time-Line
The Investigation: Step-by-Step Details of Alleged Plot
Rogers' lawyer attacks statute on anti-terrorism
Prosecutor admits Fed law is broad
WHEELING (AP) _ A federal prosecutor admitted a federal anti- terrorism statute used against a former Clarksburg firefighter is broad but he said its intent is clear.
Those who provide broad range of resources to someone whose intent is to commit a terrorist act can be prosecuted, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Godwin said in U.S. District Court.
A lawyer for one of the seven men charged in an alleged plot to blow up the FBI center argued Monday that indictments brought under the statute should be thrown out because it is too vague.
"It gives the government the right to charge anybody with anything," said defense lawyer Gary Zimmerman of Pittsburgh.
Zimmerman's client, James "Rich" Rogers, is accused of making photograph copies of FBI center blueprints that Mountaineer Militia leader Floyd "Ray" Looker sold for $50,000 to fictitious Middle East terrorists.
Rogers was charged under a 1994 federal law that makes it illegal to provide resources for use by terroristic organizations.
Those resources identified in the law include money, lodging, false documents, communication equipment, weapons, explosives, transportation and "other physical assets."
The case against Looker and Rogers is believed to be the first prosecution under the law, officials said. The other five defendants are charged with different violations.
U.S. Magistrate James Seibert expressed reservations about the way prosecutors have used the law.
"To me, it doesn't seem to fit into these categories," Seibert said.
Zimmerman contended the definition "other physical assets" is so broad that people must guess its meaning.
He asked whether someone clipping a photo of the U.S. Capitol from a newspaper and providing it to someone who planned to deface the building would violate the law.
Seibert used that example and the example of someone providing a road map to a terrorist.
Godwin acknowledged that in theory the person who supplied the clipping or map could be charged if the individual knew the items were going to be used in committing or planning a crime.
Zimmerman said the person who provided the materials could be charged even if the crime was never committed.
"That doesn't make sense to me," Zimmerman said. "I have to go to jail for 10 years and he goes to the corner pub for a beer."
Seibert did not rule immediately on the motion to dismiss the indictment or on separate motions to suppress evidence and for Rogers and Looker to be tried separately.
Zimmerman sought to suppress evidence seized from the Clarksburg fire hall and Rogers' home in Jane Lew.
FBI agents testified Monday that Rogers told them that they could search his locker and gym bag at the fire hall even though he refused to sign a formal release granting permission on Oct. 11.
Rogers testified he was jolted from sleep by agents who swarmed around his bed about 6:50 a.m.
He said he told the agents they could search the items because he believed he had no choice and because he thought they were looking specifically for photographs.
FBI agents seized a number of items, including black powder, an M-80 explosive, books and a blow pipe. Later, they went to his home and seized a handgun, shotgun and camera.
On the issue of separate trials, the government reversed itself and said it opposes trying Rogers separately from Looker. Zimmerman accused the government of an "ambush."
Godwin said the government had changed its position because Looker decided to let a lawyer represent him. He said that he had been concerned about Looker's conduct if he represented himself.
Even if Looker has a lawyer,
trying the two men in the same room would be "as far away from due process and fairness as we can be," Zimmerman said.
Updated April 16, 1997
Rogers files
claim for
unemployment
By TROY GRAHAM
Lt. James "Rich" Rogers, who was suspended from the Clarksburg Fire Department without pay following his arrest in the alleged militia plot to bomb the FBI fingerprinting center, has filed for unemployment compensation.
The city will protest the claim, said City Manager Percy Ashcraft.
"We don't feel he is entitled to compensation because of the reason for his unemployment," he said.
"I understand he (Rogers) was doing some construction work down in the Gore area," Ashcraft said. "That job is supposedly completed."
Rogers filed the unemployment claim following the job's completion, the city manager said.
"Anytime a claim is filed and employer is given the opportunity to protest," Ashcraft said.
"The city sent a letter to Barbara Goldsmith at the state unemployment office to ask whether or not a hearing could be scheduled," said Shawn Morgan, the city's attorney.
According to Morgan, Goldsmith informed the city there was no basis for a hearing because of the city's compensation procedures. Since the city has so few claims, they pay on a per claim basis, rather than paying on a quarterly basis.
"That affects the ability to protest," Morgan said.
The attorney also added that no hearing had been scheduled to her knowledge.
However, Rogers' claim will effect his health insurance. Because he is officially still a city employee, Rogers' benefits had been continued.
"The city never terminated him because they didn't want to jump to any conclusions as to his guilt or innocence," Morgan said.
Ashcraft added the city decided to continue the benefits because Rogers has a wife and several children. Those benefits will now be suspended due to the unemployment claim.
There is also the question of whether or not Rogers' bond status may be affected by his claim.
Rogers was released from jail on December 24, after posting an undetermined amount for bond.
One of the stipulations of his release was he must maintain or actively seek employment.
Rogers' attorney at the time of his bond hearing, Rocco Mazzei, was unavailable for comment Friday.
His parole officer, John Burles, was also unavailable.
Morgan said Rogers would have to seek employment to receive unemployment benefits, which is a requirement for all unemployment claims. Therefore, Rogers would satisfy the bond stipulation.
Updated April 7, 1997
The following are by the Associated Press
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Defense lawyer attacks federal anti-terrorism statute
WHEELING (AP) _ A federal prosecutor conceded Monday that a law used to charge a firefighter with plotting to blow up the FBI fingerprint center is so broad someone could be charged for providing a newspaper clipping to a terrorist.
The concession came as a lawyer for Clarksburg fire Lt. James "Rich" Rogers told a federal magistrate that Rogers' indictment should be thrown out because of the broadness and vagueness of the law.
"It gives the government the right to charge anybody with anything," said defense lawyer Gary Zimmerman of Pittsburgh.
Rogers is accused of making photograph copies of FBI center blueprints that Mountaineer Militia leader Floyd "Ray" Looker sold for $50,000 to fictitious Middle East terrorists.
Rogers charged under a 1994 federal law that makes it illegal to provide resources for use by terroristic organizations.
Those resources identified in the law include money, lodging, false documents, communication equipment, weapons, explosives, transportation and "other physical assets."
The case against Looker and Rogers is believed to be the first prosecution under the law, officials said. The other five defendants are charged with different violations.
U.S. Magistrate James Seibert expressed reservations about the way prosecutors have used the law.
"To me, it doesn't seem to fit into these categories," Seibert said Monday.
Zimmerman contended the definition "other physical assets" is so broad that people must guess its meaning.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Godwin said the law is broad but its intention is clear.
"The crime is providing (resources) to another person with a specific intent. That's the crime here," he said.
Zimmerman asked whether someone clipping a newspaper photo of the U.S. Capitol and providing it to someone who planned to deface the building would violate the law.
Godwin acknowledged that someone could be charged. Then Zimmerman said the person who provided the newspaper clipping could be charged even if the crime was never committed.
"That doesn't make sense to me," Zimmerman said. "I have to go to jail for 10 years and he goes to the corner pub for a beer."
Seibert did not rule immediately on the motion to dismiss the indictment or on separate motions to suppress evidence and for Rogers and Looker to be tried separately.
Zimmerman sought to suppress evidence seized from the Clarksburg fire hall and Rogers' home in Jane Lew.
FBI agents testified Monday that Rogers told them that they could search his locker and gym bag at the fire hall even though he refused to sign a formal release granting permission on Oct. 11.
Rogers testified he was jolted from sleep by agents who swarmed around his bed about 6:50 a.m.
He said he told the agents they could search the items because he believed he had no choice and because he thought they were looking specifically for photographs.
FBI agents seized a number of items, including black powder, an M-80 explosive, books and a blow pipe. Later, they went to his home and seized a handgun, shotgun and camera.
On the issue of separate trials, the government reversed itself and said it opposes trying Rogers separately from Looker. Zimmerman accused the government of an "ambush."
Godwin said the government had changed its position because Looker decided to let a lawyer represent him. He said that he had been concerned about Looker's conduct if he represented himself.
Even if Looker has a lawyer, trying the two men in the same room would be "as far away from due process and fairness as we can be," Zimmerman said.
Updated April 15, 1997
Richards told he doesn't have
to talk to defense
WHEELING (AP)_ An FBI informant who was relocated by the government does not have to appear in person for questioning by a lawyer for a defendant in an alleged plot to destroy the FBI fingerprint complex in Clarksburg, a federal magistrate ruled Thursday.
Magistrate James E. Seibert ordered the government to put informant Okey Marshall Richards Jr. on the phone with the defense lawyer but noted that he does not have to answer questions before trial.
"If he says, 'I don't want to talk,' that's his business,"' Seibert told lawyer Vincent Murovich in U.S. District Court.
Also Thursday, Seibert was advised that Mountaineer Militia leader Floyd "Ray" Looker plans to file a notice that his standby counsel, Bill Cipriani of Wellsburg, will represent him at trial.
Looker of Stonewood had been representing himself since firing two court-appointed lawyers.
The magistrate ruled in a hearing on pretrial motions filed by Terrell Coon of Waynesburg, Pa., one of seven men with ties to the Mountaineer Militia who are accused in the alleged plot.
Lawyers for Coon and other defendants wanted Seibert to require a face-to-face meeting with Richards.
Richards has been kept in an out-of-state location since federal agents arrested the defendants on Oct. 11 on charges including conspiracy to manufacture explosives and to provide support for a terrorist attack.
Coon is charged with causing explosives and a sawed-off shotgun to be transported illegally across state lines.
Defense lawyers contend the investigation was tainted by the involvement of the paid informant. They have also attacked the integrity of Richards, who defaulted on a lawsuit and owes more than $33,000 in child support.
Murovich, Coon's Pittsburgh lawyer, said Richards lured his client into the alleged plot.
"If you put a group of people together, you can always tell who is the government agent, because he does all of the talking and the planning," Murovich said after the hearing.
The magistrate gave Murovich until May 10 to have his own team of experts examine evidence seized from Coon including plastic explosives, blasting caps and three grenades.
Seibert did not rule immediately on Murovich's request for his client to be tried separately from Looker. Nor did he rule on Murovich's motions to dismiss two counts of the indictment against Coon.
Several defendants made motions to sever their cases from Looker when he was representing himself. They feared Looker's actions in court might work against their clients.
But Murovich also had another reason: he said he wanted to call Looker as a witness on Coon's behalf.
On other issues, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Godwin said he would turn over to the defense some of Richards' phone records and a membership list of the Mountaineer Militia.
Looker has said in the past there were 1,000 militia members before the government investigation.
Looker and the others were arrested after he allegedly tried to sell photographed copies of FBI center blueprints to an undercover FBI agent posing as the middleman for a fictitious terrorist organization.
Updated April 11, 1997
Looker files court motion to throw out audiotapes
WHEELING (AP)_ Mountaineer Militia leader Floyd "Ray" Looker is seeking to have indictments against him and six others with militia ties thrown out because of "outrageous" government conduct, according to federal court documents obtained Friday.
He also wants to suppress hundreds of audiotapes along with statements and other evidence central to the government's investigation into an alleged plot to destroy the FBI fingerprint center in Clarksburg.
The new motions target government conduct and reassert Looker's claim that the FBI violated his First Amendment rights by targeting the militia and launching an investigation with no evidence of a crime.
"It goes without question that the government was attempting to 'put some teeth' in the antiterrorist law, and that the West Virginia Mountaineer Militia was targeted for that purpose," he wrote.
The motions are part of a series he has filed in U.S. District Court in Wheeling.
Looker, who is representing himself in the case, was given more time to file motions in part because he has limited access to the law library at the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville.
U.S. Attorney William Wilmoth was not immediately available Friday to respond to Looker's charges.
Looker's "outrageous" conduct defense has been used successfully in a handful of other criminal trials, Bill Cipriani, a court-appointed lawyer assisting Looker's defense, said Friday.
"It's rarely used and even more rarely granted," he said.
In his motions, Looker contends the government sought to destabilize him after his arrest in part by denying him medication.
He contends the government's destabilization efforts included moving him from jail to jail, knocking down the door to his home and stalking his wife, and denying him Prozac for three months.
He also contends he was denied due process by having only one hour a week of access to a law library, denied batteries for his hearing aids for up to 10 days and provided with only limited phone access.
On other issues, the motions provided more support for Looker's claim that the government's investigation was launched illegally because there was no evidence of criminal conduct at the time.
The only criminal conduct was orchestrated and funded by the government after its informant, Okey Marshall Richards Jr., who infiltrated the militia with the FBI's tacit approval, the motions said.
Defense lawyers have attacked the credibility of Richards, a Clarksburg native who owes $33,000 in child support, defaulted on a lawsuit over a failed business venture and lied about being a Navy SEAL.
Richards has been relocated by the government to an out-of-state location for his protection.
Looker's motions also reassert his claim that prosecutors illegally used the grand jury process to go on a fishing expedition after compelling Looker's wife and a sympathetic minister to appear.
Looker and the others were arrested last Oct. 11 after Looker allegedly tried to sell for $50,000 photographed copies of FBI center blueprints obtained by Clarksburg Fire Lt. James "Rich" Rogers.
Looker and Rogers are accused of providing support for an offense against the U.S. government.
Edward F. Moore of Lavalette and Jack Phillips of Fairmont are
accused along with Looker of conspiring to manufacture explosives either for sell or for use in militia operations.
Three others, Imam Lewis of Cleveland, James Johnson of suburban Maple Heights and Terrell Coon of Waynesburg, Pa., are accused along with Looker of transporting explosives across state lines.
Among Looker's motions were a request to dismiss previous motions he filed with the assistance of Paul Andrew Mitchell of Tucson, Ariz.
Looker said in the court documents that the government's attempts to destabilize him made him "vulnerable to the skills of a charlatan peddling hope to a
wrongly accused man."
"He's saying, 'I think it would be more prudent to pursue a more traditional type defense instead of burdening the court with the pleadings filed by Paul Andrew Mitchell,"' Cipriani said.
Updated April 7, 1997
FBI informant will remain
in seclusion pending trial;
Looker trial may be separate
MORGANTOWN (AP) _ The informant at the center of the government's investigation into an alleged plot to blow up the FBI fingerprint center does not want to appear for defense questioning before trial, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Okey Marshall Richards Jr., whose code name was disclosed as "Gladiator," will remain at an undisclosed location but may talk to defense lawyers by telephone, prosecutors said in the documents.
In other developments, government lawyers said they did not oppose defense motions to try Mountaineer Militia leader Floyd "Ray" Looker separately from the other six defendants.
If granted, there would be five trials instead of four. Trials are currently scheduled to begin in August.
Looker and the others are accused in what prosecutors have described as an alleged plot to blow up the FBI's $200 million Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg.
Today marks the deadline for prosecutors to file their responses to motions filed by all defendants except Looker in U.S. District Court in Wheeling. Looker has more time to file his motions.
Several of the defendants requested that the government produce Richards for questioning. He has been in an undisclosed location for his protection since the arrests on Oct. 11.
The government said in its motions that it would not disclose where Richards now resides.
Attached to the filings were copies of a flier circulated by Looker's wife, Chi-Anna Looker, that described the witness as "Most Wanted By American Patriots."
Underneath was a photo of Richards, along with a physical description and a quotation from the Bible: "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape."
Richards, who is under government protection, made hundreds of tape recordings during the 16-month investigation that led to the arrests of the seven men with militia ties.
Defense lawyers have attacked Richards' credibility because he defaulted on a lawsuit, owed more than $33,000 in back child support and lied about being a Navy SEAL.
The arrests were made after Looker tried to sell for $50,000 photograph copies of FBI center blueprints made by a Clarksburg firefighter, Lt. James "Rich" Rogers.
Looker and Rogers are charged with providing support for a terrorist attack against the U.S. government.
Imam Lewis of Cleveland, James Johnson of suburban Maple Heights, Ohio, and Terry Coon of Waynesburg, Pa., are charged along with Looker with transporting explosives across state lines.
The other two defendants, Jack A. Phillips of Fairmont and Edward F. Moore of Lavalette, are charged along with Looker with conspiracy to manufacture and sell explosives.
Updated April 2, 1997
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