By Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — Now that they’ve been vindicated, three Hutaree militia defendants are getting their guns and ammunition back.
The court concluded that they are entitled to get their 60-plus guns back, along with hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts filed an order Tuesday that would allow Thomas Piatek to get his weapons back. That includes 41 guns — shotguns, rifles, handguns and an AK-47 — along with more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition.
The weapons and ammo were seized from his Indiana home during an FBI raid in 2009, which led to his arrest. He was imprisoned for two years on charges that he helped plot an anti-government revolt.
Piatek’s lawyer Arthur Weiss said his client will never get those two years back but rightfully will get his weapons back.
“Since they didn’t engage in criminal activity, their lawfully maintained weapons and ammunition should be returned. The government has no basis to keep law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
Piatek also is getting back his military helmets, bulletproof vests, $100 in cash and his cell phone.
His codefendant Tina Stone is getting back five weapons — a handgun, three rifles and a shotgun, records show.
Another codefendant, Michael Meeks, is getting back nearly a dozen guns and hundreds of pounds of ammunition.
Weiss noted that his client had never been charged with a crime and was an avid gun collector who lawfully possessed several guns.
“There is a segment of our population that doesn’t view Piatek’s collection out of the ordinary,” Weiss said, noting one of the agents who testified said he owned more than 30 weapons.
Piatek, Stone and Meeks were among seven members acquitted in March of plotting a revolt against the government that included killing police officers with guns and bombs. All faced up to life in prison, but their trial ended abruptly in March when Roberts concluded that the government failed to prove its case.
She let stand a handful of weapons charges against Hutaree leader David Stone Sr. and his son Joshua Stone. Both pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun in plea deals and were released on bond.
They will be sentenced in August. David Stone Sr. faces up to 41 months in prison; Joshua Stone faces up to 33 months.
An eighth defendant, Joshua Clough, the only defendant to plead guilty, withdrew his plea one week after his seven codefendants were acquitted. The government did not object. A ninth defendant was declared incompetent to stand trial. Charges against him were dropped last month.
