
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 23, 1991                   TAG: 9102230186
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE                                LENGTH: Short

FLORIDA MEN INDICTED ON ASSAULT CHARGES

Two Florida men were indicted here Friday on federal charges of assaulting federal officials with a firearm. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against C.R. Brown and Clifford Brown of Jacksonville.

The charges stem from an incident in Giles County in October 1990 when the father and son allegedly assaulted four employees of the Army Corps of Engineers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mott said.

Mott said the Browns had purchased property in Giles County and intended to convert it into an organic farm. They erected gates and posts around the property, some of which was administered by the Corps of Engineers, Mott said.

It is alleged that when Corps employees went to the property to take down the gates and posts, the Browns drove up in their pickup and demanded that the employees leave, Mott said.

After allegedly being threatened with a tear-gas grenade and spotting a shotgun in the truck, the employees left, Mott said.

C.R. Brown faces a maximum 45 years, six months in prison, a $1 million fine or both. Clifford Brown faces a maximum 55 years in prison, a fine of $1.25 million or both.

by CNB