Mr. Bolt & Mr. Brooker's clubhouse maybe lost in a legal proceeding..........
Militia member can post bond if he agrees to judge's conditions
By Trish Mehaffey
The Morning News
FORT SMITH -- A Fayetteville militia member will have the chance to post bond after being arrested last week for possession of illegal guns, but only if he agrees to some strict conditions set up by a federal court judge Monday.
The conditions include giving up any weapons, posting the deed of the man's property to the court, electronic monitoring, no attending militia meetings and moving from his residence to his daughter's home in Elkins until the trial is over.
Hollis "Wayne" Fincher, 60, of 16085 E. Black Oak Road, a lieutenant commander of the Militia of Washington County, didn't accept or deny the conditions of U.S. Magistrate Beverly Stites Jones.
Fincher was arrested Wednesday by teams of special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and other federal and state agencies and local police in connection with charges of possessing illegal firearms. Officials said there were 14 search warrants executed in Fort Smith and Fayetteville. Fincher is the only person arrested so far in the ongoing investigation.
David Dunagin, Fincher's attorney in Fort Smith, said after the detention hearing he didn't know whether Fincher would agree to post the $250,000 bond with its conditions.
Fincher was shaking his head when the judge mentioned he couldn't live in his residence but remained quiet throughout the 1 1/2 hour hearing.
Special Agent Wade Vittitow of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified he believed Fincher was a flight risk because he didn't believe in the validity of the court procedures or the firearm laws, according to the militia information posted on its Web site.
Vittitow said his agency knew of the militia, which formed in 1994, but the first time he received "third party" confirmation that the group had unregistered machine guns was when a reporter with The Morning News wrote an in-depth article in March about them.
A machine gun that can fire 550 rounds a minute and assorted 9 mm Sten submachine guns are stored in the Washington County militia's concrete and steel vault, according to information gathered for the article.
ATF started investigating the militia after the article was published and sent an undercover agent to join the group last summer, Vittitow said. The informant discovered members of the militia had homemade and unregistered machine guns. It was also discovered that Fincher, a retired machinist, helped assemble the guns.
Vittitow said the agents conducted the searches Nov. 2 and seized 16 illegal firearms from Fincher's residence, including machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, short-barreled rifles and a "suspected" silencer on a shotgun. Many of the weapons were found in a master bedroom, but the majority of them were found in a gun cabinet.
Vittitow told the court it would also be dangerous to let Fincher out of custody because he lives in a remote location. The driveway of his house is about a mile from Black Oak Road and it's a rough, rocky terrain. There's no way to reach the 100-acre property except that driveway. The agent's concern was that, if Fincher didn't comply with the court's orders, he and the militia would be ready for law enforcement next time and could take action against them.
The agent explained that when agents and police executed the search warrants last week, Fincher didn't know they were coming. Vittitow said Fincher had written a document called the "The Silver Bullet," which stated that, if any federal agent attempts to take constitutional rights away from the militia that would be taken as a "conspiracy to levy war against the people of Arkansas."
Dunagan argued that a bond should be set because Fincher didn't have a criminal record and the militia had never been convicted of any criminal activity. He then said the militia or Fincher never attempted to hide their beliefs and everything written on the Web site can't be verified as Fincher's personal beliefs.
Jones said setting the bond was a tough decision because she didn't know whether the information put out by the militia is all talk.
She said Fincher seemed like a model citizen on the surface: no criminal record, family ties to the area, a retired machinist, but he was found with unregistered and illegal firearms and participated in a militia group that has stated it doesn't recognize the court and judges or government.
