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07-13-2016 ECF 14 USA V MICHAEL EMRY - USA Opposition To Motion For Release
07-13-2016 ECF 14 USA V MICHAEL EMRY - USA Opposition To Motion For Release
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FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The factual background is set forth in detail in the affidavits for the
complaint and search warrant, and those facts are hereby incorporated by reference.
Case 6:16-mj-00056-JR
II.
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PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
After being charged by criminal complaint, on May 24, 2016, the Court held a
detention hearing, heard arguments from both parties, carefully analyzed the
detention factors as they applied to Defendants case, and concluded there are no
conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of the community.
Less than two months later, Defendant has now renewed his request for
release, proposing that he be allowed to work as a welder and fabricator while living
in a trailer in Crescent, Oregon. At bottom, there has not been a substantial change
in circumstances that should cause the Court to feel any more comfortable about
Defendants pretrial release.
III.
A.
APPLICABLE LAW
Standards
Under the Bail Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. 3142, et seq., which governs the
detention of a defendant pending trial, the Court shall order a defendant detained
if, after a hearing, it finds that no condition or combination of conditions will
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reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of any
other person and the community. 18 U.S.C. 3142(e). Detention is appropriate
where a defendant is either a flight risk or a danger to the community. It is not
necessary to prove both. See United States v. Motamedi, 767 F.2d 1403, 1406 (9th
Cir. 1985); United States v. Kouyoumdijan, 601 F. Supp. 1506, 1508-10 (C.D. Cal.
1985). The United States bears the burden of establishing danger to the community
by clear and convincing evidence; risk of flight need only be proved by a
preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Aitken, 898 F.2d 104, 107 (9th Cir.
1990); Winsor, 785 F.2d at 757.
In determining whether pretrial detention is appropriate, the court should
consider four factors: (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense charged; (2)
the weight of the evidence against the defendant; (3) the history and characteristics
of the defendant, including the person's character, physical and mental condition,
family and community ties, employment, financial resources, past criminal conduct,
and history relating to drug or alcohol abuse; and (4) the nature and seriousness of
the danger to any person or the community that would be posed by the defendant's
release. United States v. Hir, 517 F.3d 1081, 1086 (9th Cir. 2008); see also 18 U.S.C.
3142(g).
IV.
DISCUSSION
As found by the Court at the last detention hearing, the 3142(g) factors
pointed, and still point, in one direction detention.
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There are several facts of this case that ratchet the seriousness and
dangerousness of this offense to higher levels:
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(1) Defendant admitted he stole the .50 caliber machine gun from a man in
Idaho. This man in Idaho confirmed the same and valued the machine gun at
approximately $25,000.00.
(2) Defendant admitted he transported the machine gun from Idaho to
Oregon earlier this year (which constitutes a separate potential criminal charge
pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 5861(j)).
(3) Defendant admitted that prior to bringing the machine gun to Oregon, he
obliterated the serial number, as depicted in the photograph below. This act
rendered the firearm either untraceable or significantly harder to trace.
(4) Defendants move from Idaho to Oregon coincided with the armed
occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) in Harney County,
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Oregon. In fact, on the day of the execution of the search warrant, Defendant
admitted to agents that he traveled from Idaho to Oregon in late December 2015 in
a van loaned to him by Ammon Bundy, one of the leaders of the armed occupation of
the Refuge. Upon arrival in Oregon, Defendant stayed in a house in Burns, Oregon
with Ammon Bundy, Ryan Payne, and other militants. 1
(5) On January 11, 2016, a Deschutes County Sheriffs Deputy reported that
Defendant approached a checkpoint at the Tactical Operations Center at the Burns,
Oregon airport and told the Deputy that there was a .50 caliber belt-fed machine
gun on the refuge. Law enforcement perceived Defendants statement regarding the
.50 caliber machine gun as an attempt to intimidate them.
(6) According to the cooperating witness in this case, Defendant stated he
wanted to take the .50 caliber machine gun onto the MNWR during the occupation
but he could not because of the law enforcement presence. The cooperating witness
also relayed that Defendant has a large arsenal of weapons, access to grenades,
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Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne are two of the defendants charged in the criminal
case involving the armed occupation of the MNWR, U.S. District Court of Oregon
Case No. 3:16-CR-00051.
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spoke about shooting police officers and how a bullet from the .50 caliber machine
gun would penetrate the side of a police car and a Kevlar vest. 2
Independent of the cooperating witness in this case, a second unrelated
confidential source (CS) relayed in late May 2016 that he/she was glad that law
enforcement seized the .50 caliber machine gun. According to this CS, one of the
occupants of the MNWR, Darryl Thorn, had talked about the .50 caliber machine
gun, wanted another occupant to help retrieve it from Defendant, and asked for
training on how to use the .50 caliber rifle. 3
(7) Just prior to the execution of the search warrant to seize the machine gun,
Defendant was in negotiations to sell the machine gun in Oregon to a person
Defendant had been told was a felon and the captain of a Texas militia group (this
person was in fact an undercover law enforcement officer).
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As was made clear in the search warrant affidavit and at the last detention
hearing, this cooperating witness has been dishonest and unreliable in the past, and
carries significant baggage. However, the cooperating witness proved correct when
he/she said Defendant was in possession of a .50 caliber machine gun. And prior to
executing the search warrant, FBI agents were able to listen to separate recorded
calls of Defendant discussing, and expressing his desire to sell, his .50 caliber
machine gun.
2
Darryl Thorn is one of the defendants charged in the criminal case involving the
armed occupation of the MNWR, U.S. District Court of Oregon Case No. 3:16-CR00051.
3
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(9) At the same time he illegally possessed the machine gun, Defendant
illegally possessed a destructive device specifically, a blasting cap which is a
detonator for a bomb as depicted in the photograph below (which constitutes a
separate potential criminal charge pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 5861(d)).
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automatic. Defendant confessed to federal agents multiple times about how he stole
the machine gun in Idaho, obliterated the serial number, brought it to Oregon, and
knew he had broken the law. And he confessed to the crimes in recorded jail calls
post-arrest.
3. History and Characteristics of the Defendant
This factor too weighs in favor of detention. While Defendant is quick to
emphasize his age, marital status, highly regarded skills as a gunsmith, and lack of
significant criminal history, he neglects, for good reason, to mention his history of
illegally making a bomb out of C-4 and a silencer for a drug dealer to kill potential
witnesses. Defendants bomb had the potential to blow up a room three times the
size of a federal courtroom and put a couple foot crater in the center of the area and
blow every single wall out and just turn it into cinder. Govt. Ex. 1 at 1793
(Defendants 2004 trial testimony in United States v. Kenneth Kimball, et al, U.S.
District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division, Criminal Case No.
3:02-CR-00053, Doc. 558). Defendant further testified that he was not very proud
of this, I should have better discretion, should never have got myself involved with
it, and knew that the bomb he made could cause great harm and was highly,
highly illegal. Id. at 1790-91.
Nor does Defendant mention that in the past he illegally built upwards of 66
machine guns, belt fed for a friends weapons locker in case there was a civil revolt,
and that this friend he armed with 66 machine guns became increasingly paranoid
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and radical. Govt. Ex. 1 at pp. 1784-85. Or how Defendant had also received
detonators for bombs from this person. Id. at 1784.
All told, if anyone was attuned to the illegality and seriousness of these types
of offenses, it was Defendant, as highlighted in the following exchange from his
2004 trial testimony:
QUESTION:
EMRY:
Yes, sir.
QUESTION:
And you knew that a bomb and a silencer was used, two
items, in separate events, it was a mandatory life
sentence, sir, did you know that?
EMRY:
QUESTION:
EMRY:
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He only recently relocated to Oregon from Idaho, living in a moveable trailer and
bringing with him a dangerous, illegal weapon in the process.
4. Nature and Seriousness of the Danger to the Community
A man with a history of making a bomb and silencer for a drug dealer to kill
witnesses, and manufacturing 66 machine guns for another person in preparation
for a civil revolt who then brings a .50 caliber machine gun to our state during a
time of unrest and then negotiates to sell it to someone purporting to be a felon and
the captain of a militia poses a serious danger to the community. Defendant has
now accumulated a large enough track record when it comes to these types of
offenses that he can no longer be trusted to cease his illegal behavior.
Several more portions of Defendants 2004 testimony should be noted, as they
shed light on Defendants mindset when he brought the .50 caliber machine gun to
Oregon earlier this year:
(a) When asked about how Defendant seemed cavalier about having made
an illegal bomb, machine guns and a silencer, the following exchange occurred:
EMRY:
QUESTION:
EMRY:
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EMRY:
.........
QUESTION:
EMRY:
The only thing I did illegal, and I think that I did wrong
in my own mind was if youre talking about the course of
the laws and things that we say are illegal in our courts,
yes, I did. The explosives illegal. Our Constitution
guarantees the firearms.
QUESTION:
EMRY:
QUESTION:
EMRY:
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EMRY:
QUESTION:
EMRY:
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The quantity and significance of the anonymous threats have increased since
the last detention hearing with people telling the cooperating witness things such
as PHW we are coming for you and you are going to die. 4
V.
CONCLUSION
Detention is just as appropriate today as it was on May 24, 2016, and the
United States requests that Defendant remain detained pending trial.
Dated this 13th day of July 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
BILLY J. WILLIAMS
United States Attorney
s/ Nathan J. Lichvarcik
NATHAN J. LICHVARCIK
Assistant United States Attorney
According to the cooperating witness, PHW stands for Pale Horse Warning, a
reference to death riding on a pale horse, and is a type of threat that originated
with an unsavory group in the past. The cooperating witness believes that the
PHW reference signifies that the threat is legitimate.
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