Citing concerns that the four North Georgia men accused in a plot to bomb federal buildings and disperse the toxin ricin may still intend to harm federal authorities, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Susan Cole denied bond to the defendants late Wednesday.
The four, who were arrested Nov. 1, will await trial at the Hall County Jail in Gainesville.
The alleged leader, Frederick W. Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, and Dan Roberts, 67, of Toccoa are charged with conspiring to buy explosives and possessing an unregistered silencer. Toccoa men Samuel J. Crump, 68, and Ray H. Adams, 55, face charges of conspiring to make and disperse ricin, according to the federal indictment.
If she released them on bond, "I think there is a concern they would not be prevented access to instruments of harm," Cole said. She also echoed prosecutors' contention that their arrests are likely to have heightened the "ill-will" the men feel toward the government.
Defense attorneys for each of the men intend to appeal Cole’s decision, they said.
“It’s very disappointing. I thought we presented a good case and I don’t believe he’s a danger to the community,” said Jeff Ertel, who is representing Thomas.
In a hearing that stretched over the course of three days, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney said the men -- two of whom are veterans of the U.S. military -- may “love their country,” but had demonstrated a “hatred” of their government.
Defense attorneys argued that owning weapons or castor beans –- the key ingredient in ricin -– is not illegal.
Dan Summer, who is representing Crump, said recordings of his client speaking about how to make ricin depict an "aspirational" goal, not something Crump intended to do or was even capable of doing.
"It's almost like an old man in the throes of the very early stages of senility," he said.
Barry Lombardo, Adams' attorney, said his client -- who worked in horticulture for the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- owned castor bean bushes for the same reasons many Georgians do: for mole control.
Lombardo said he sympathized with the federal government's task in preventing terrorism, but believes the government over-reached in their case against the men.
"They tried to prevent a perceived crime, but it's not the same as an actual crime," he said. "It's not an excuse for detaining someone before trial."
The defense attorneys said the men's discussions had been taken out of context. Ertel said they hoped to organize Georgia's militias into a "governor's army," and believed they were preparing for a likely federal assault against individual citizens. The men would not have initiated action against the government, Ertel said.
And Michael Trost, who described his client Roberts as a "bump on a log witnessing the whole thing," said Roberts spoke of silencers and explosives in the context of defending his country.
"We cannot engage in knee-jerk reactions to hypothetical what-ifs," Trost said.
But McBurney said the men had taken concrete steps that crossed the line into illegality: purchasing a silencer, explosives activated by a cell phone, and the ingredients for making ricin.
“We’ve moved beyond the hypothetical to reality,” he said.
During the hearing several family members and friends of the defendants were called to testify, helping paint a fuller portrait of the men at the center of the domestic terrorism case.
Adams' daughter Melissa said her father is active in masonic organizations and has helped raise money for sick children through the Shriners. Crump's twin daughters testified that their father, a retired electrician, often donated his services to people in need. Roberts' wife Margaret said the couple is active in animal rescue and are currently caring for dozens of cats and dogs. And Thomas' family described him as a peace-loving man who, with 30 years in the U.S. Navy, was dedicated to serving his country.
Both Thomas' wife Charlotte and son Paul said last week that the 52 weapons found in his home were part of a gun collection. Federal authorities also seized about 30,000 rounds of ammunition, including ammunition compatible with silencers, in the raid.
Defense attorneys also questioned the credibility of the FBI’s confidential informant, a South Carolina man who is currently facing charges of child molestation, incest and distributing child pornography. That informant also failed a polygraph test in 2010 after offering to help federal authorities.
FBI Agent Doug Korneski, the domestic terrorism supervisor in Atlanta, testified that the FBI is not helping the informant with his pending charges.
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