Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 28, 1995 TAG: 9502280079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James Roy Mullins of Pulaski, who started the group to support gun rights and to fight a possible government war on citizens, pleaded guilty to seven counts of federal firearm violations. His plea bargain recommends a five-year sentence.
Paul David Peterson, who ran a Blacksburg gun shop, pleaded guilty to four counts. His attorney said he faces up to 16 months in prison. Both will be sentenced after pre-sentencing reports are completed.
Peterson cooperated with federal agents after his arrest and gave them additional information, while Mullins decided to plead guilty because he realized there was enough evidence to convict him, his attorney said.
Mullins, who worked as a heavy-machine operator before his arrest, said he will continue his fight for gun rights after he leaves prison; he disagrees with federal laws limiting citizens' right to bear arms.
After a hearing in Roanoke, Mullins' attorney, Jack Gregory, explained the origin of the hunt club, which had detailed military strategies and guerrilla tactics to be used against the federal government if agents ever attacked citizens.
``Several individuals were concerned what would happen if there was an insurrection or something like this,'' Gregory said. ``It was mainly bravado.''
Two others had their trials scheduled for May 1. Dennis Frith, a hunt club member, and Paul Greene, a federally licensed firearm dealer, will be tried together. Hunt club member William Stump II plans to represent himself at a separate trial in April.
After hearings in federal court Monday, prosecutor Don Wolthuis remained tight-lipped about the charges because of the pending trials.
``This is still a conspiracy case where the conduct and comments of one conspirator could affect another,'' he said.
Mullins, who was charged with 16 counts of firearm violations, pleaded guilty to making and possessing a machine gun, possessing unregistered silencers, conspiracy to commit firearm violations, and making a ``straw purchase'' of a gun for someone else.
Federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had an informant inside the Blue Ridge Hunt Club, which met just three times last summer before the arrests of several members. Mullins brought guns with unregistered silencers to one of the meetings, where other members used them during target practice. The informant surreptitiously taped the meetings for the ATF.
Mullins also bought a semiautomatic pistol from Peterson for a third party last June as a ``straw purchase,'' a transaction that resulted in charges to which both men pleaded guilty. Peterson used Mullins' name in the required background check so the true buyer's name wouldn't show up on government records as the owner.
In the most serious charge against him, Peterson pleaded guilty to knowingly selling a 12-gauge shotgun to a convicted felon, whom the ATF recruited and provided money to buy the gun. Peterson also pleaded guilty to selling guns in violation of state law, and to aiding and abetting in making a false statement by falsifying the buyer's name on gun records.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges.
ATF Special Agent T.S. Fairburn testified that as soon as Peterson got an attorney after his arraignment, he was ``extremely forthcoming'' with the ATF and provided additional leads for them to investigate.
Peterson, who had been free on bond, was released on the same $5,000 bond to await sentencing. Neither he nor his attorney would say where he is living.
Asked after the hearing whether he would be able to work again as a federally licensed firearm dealer, Peterson, 26, said, ``That's the least of my worries right now.''
Mullins, meanwhile, has been in the Roanoke City Jail since his July arrest. Gregory asked that Mullins be released until his sentencing so he can ``get his affairs in order'' before being sent to prison. A bond hearing was set for Friday afternoon.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***