--------------------- Forwarded message: From: 71562.2561@CompuServe.COM (mike tanner) To: HPBIII@aol.com Date: 96-06-05 21:06:49 EDT News Release: Macon Telegraph, June 5, 1996, Page 1B Title: Judge ponders bond for bomb suspect Third militia member pleads not guilty Author: Audrey Post The lawyer for the third suspect in what the governrnent calls a militia bomb conspira- cy described his c]ient Tuesday as someone who "likes to play Army and talks a little loose," but not a bomb-maker who plotted a war aginst federal agents. Troy Allen Kyser, also known as Troy spain, pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning in U.S.. District Court in Macon. U S. Magis trate Judge Richard Hodge said he would rule by Thursday aftemoon on whether to al- low Kyser, to be released on bond until his trial. Kyser's attorney, Gregory Spicer, asked Hodge to deny prosecutors' request to keep Kyser jailed and instead to set a reasonable bond. Hodge noted that he is "not a strong propo- nent of pretrial detention" but that sometimes | the evidence indicates it is warranted. He promised to consider carefully the evidence and arguments presented during the hour- long hearing. Last month, U . S . District Court Judge Wil- bur D. Owens Jr. denied bond for the other two defendants in the case, Robert Edward Starr and William James McCranie. They have been jailed since their arrests April 26 when they were charged with conspirng to make pipe bombs. The same day, federal and local agents raided two tracts of land in Crawford County one owned by Starr and the other McCranie's residence, and seized pipes and chemicals they said could be used to make bombs. Kyser was not pub]icly connected to the case until May 28, when a federal grand jury indictment that had been issued two weeks ear]ier was unsealed. Kyser surrendered vol- untarily that evening. After entering his plea, Kyser was provided a copy of the estimated sentencing guidelines compiled by the federal probation offlce. Un- der those guidelines, Kyser could receive a maximum possible sentence of 210 to 262 months -- 17.5 to 21.8 years -- should he be convicted or change his plea to guilty. Starr and McCrannie were given the same estimated sentences at theirr arraignment last Thursday. Bomb conspiracy suspect Troy Allen Kayser, left, is escorted by a deputy U.S. Marshal as he leaves U.S. District Court in Macon on Tuesday morning. Life in prison is the maximum penalty al- lowed for two of the crimes with which the men have been charged. However, federal sentencing guidelines take into account a number of other factors. There is no parole in the federal court system. 'Absolutely no evidence' Kyser, wearing a blue jail uniform over a white T-shirt, was escorted into the court- room Tuesday by almost a dozen deputy U.S. marshals. His wife and several friends from the Georgia militia filled one bench of the spectator section. During the hour-long hearing. Kyser's at- torney got the govemment's only witness to admit there is no evidence that Kyser ever Please see Bomb 2B touched or manufactured a bomb. "There is absolutely no evidence on the planet Earth that he's ever had a bomb in his hands, is there'?" Spicer asked Agent Stephen W Gil- lis of the Bureau of AlcohoL Tobbac- co and Firearms. When Gillis responded that Kys er was present durlng' discussions about bombmaking. Spicer said, "That's not what I asked." Gillis then answered, "No, there's no evdence." zOne of the three counts against Kyser in the five count federal in- dictment charges him with posses sion of a destructive device, or bomb. The other two counts charge that he conspired with co-de- fendants Starr and McCrannie to use a destructive device in a violent crime, and conspired with them to use weapons of mass destruction. The other two counts charge Starr with possessing a semi-auto- matic assault weapon, and Starr and McCrannie with threatening a federal law enforcement offlcer. Gillis also testified that Kyser was present, along with a half dozen other militia members, when chem- icals for the bombs were purchased at a gun show. But Spicer coaxed from the agent that the government has no evidence Kyser ever pur- chased or stole a bomb component himself, or that he had any direct knowledge of how to build a bomb. 'Speclal Operations Team' Much of Gillis' testimiony Tues- day echoed his statements at earlier hearings for Starr, 34; and McCran- nie, 30, although it focused more on the 28 vear-old Kyser's alleged role. Gillis testified that Kyser was to select and train a militia "Special Operations Team" to assassinate politicians in Washington, D.C., if agents ever took action against the militia. The "team" was also sup- posed to rescue any militia mem- bers who were arrested, according to the indictment, and to kill any members who could not be "extri- cated." Under cross examination, howev- er, Gillis acknowledged that the dis- cussions about choosing the "team," assassinating politicians and rescuing arrested militia mem- bers had not been tape-recorded by the ATF's confidential informants. The government's informants, who have not yet been named in court, provided audio tapes of some mili- tia gathenngs. "We were not aware of any actu- al planning to assassinate high-level politicians, Gillis testified. The "team" had targeted the Ma- con Police SWAT team, Fort Ben- ning, National Guard convoys and the Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency for robbery in the "event of "war" with federal agents, Gillis testified. Militia members were to steal weapons and explo- sives from the first three targets, but FEMA "was just listed as a tar- get of opportunity," he said. When asked about the militia team's plans to blow up buildings, bridges and cammunications tow- ers in the "war," Gillis said that conversation had been taped. When asked if Kyser himself had made the statements, Gillis said, "I don't recdall at tbis point who it was tbat made that comment." The 'team" was to pick which bridges to blow up by throwing darts at a map of Georgia, Gillis tes- tified. Risk of flight Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Ratley urged the magistrate not to set bond for Kyser. She said his be- havior after child welfare authori- ties in Washington County wanted to question two of his four step- children makes him a flight risk and likely to try to intimidate wit- nesses. Gillis had testified earlier that Kyser and Starr led an aborted armed mission to the Sandersville offlce of the Departnent of Family and Children Services in April, shortly atter Kyser and his wife re- ceived a letter telling them to bring the children to the DFACS office for evaluation. Gillis also said the fami- ly disappeared soon afterward. "When he merely thought that Department of Family and Children's Services officials wanted to question his children, he left. They didn't even pack up," Ratley said. "There is absolutely no evidence of ties to the Middle Genrgia com- munity," she said, adding that Kys- er's mother-in-law "was not privy to where they were" during their dis- appearance. The ATF agent also testified that Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents could not find Kyser to serve him with a federal grand jury sub- poena shortly after Starr and McCrannie were arrested. ATF agents had been looking for him too, Gillis said. Neither Ratley nor Gillis ex- plained how Kyser went from a po- tential grand jury witness to an in- dicted co-defendant in three weeks. Kyser's wife, Cheryl Spain, sald last week the family moved from Sandersville to Warner Robins about a month ago. After the hearing, Kyser's attor- ney characterized the government's case as "weak. " "I don't think they made any grandiose plans," Spicer said. "There was some loose talk that's all." @ . 7 months a@o