Alaska militia member sentenced on weapons charges

Wed, 2012-09-26 08:13 AM
By: Mark Rockwell

The sidekick of the leader of a Fairbanks, AK, militia group will spend five years in prison for trying to get grenades and gun silencers, as well as possessing a grenade launcher, while his co-defendants face more serious prison time.

Coleman Barney from North Pole, AK, was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage on Sept. 25 to five years in prison for the weapons conspiracy and to another five years in prison for possession of a grenade launcher. However, the two sentences are set to run concurrently.

Barney was convicted on June 18, 2012, when a jury returned guilty verdicts against Coleman Barney, Schaffer Cox, and Lonnie G. Vernon on a majority of charges, but acquitting them on several others. Barney was convicted on the unregistered silencer and grenade charges, and possession of a 37 mm projectile launcher loaded with a "hornet's nest" anti-personnel round.

Cox, a local militia leader, and Vernon, a fellow militia member, were found guilty of conspiring to murder federal officials, which carries a possible life sentence, said the FBI. Both are slated for sentencing in November.

Cox was the leader of the Fairbanks-based Alaska Peacemaker Militia.
Local press reports quoted authorities that have said the men advocated the "241" retaliation plan -- slang for the "two-for-one” killing or kidnapping of two officials for any member of Cox' group who might be killed or arrested. That retaliation never happened, however. During its investigation, the FBI used an informant to infiltrate the group, where he recorded more than 100 hours of conversations among the members.

“This investigation and prosecution found its genesis in the voice of concerned citizens that a group of people, operating under the auspices of a sovereign militia, were planning to murder state and federal officials” said Mary Rook, special Agent in charge of the FBI in Alaska said. “As a result of the investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Alaska State Troopers, Coleman Barney and his co-conspirators were arrested before they could carry out their murderous plans.”

Although the jury reached guilty verdicts on the weapons charges, it couldn’t reach a verdict one of the count charging Barney with conspiracy to murder federal officials. That count was later dismissed, said the FBI.

The verdicts, said the agency, represented the culmination of an extensive investigation that included obtaining recordings of Vernon, Cox, and Barney discussing the murder of numerous state officials in retaliation for attempting to arrest Cox. Local news reports from Alaska said Barney told the judge in his trial that he had been caught up in Schaffer Cox’s militia movement and that he was embarrassed about his activities.

“The actions of Mr. Barney and his co-conspirators presented a very real and dangerous threat to our community,” said U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler in a Sept. 25 statement.

Alaska militia member sentenced on weapons charges | Government Security News