Posted on Thu, Mar. 14, 2002
AFT offering reward for fugitive militia leader from Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Authorities believe the commander of the Kentucky State Militia, facing a variety of weapons charges, has fled to avoid prosecution.
Charlie Puckett, 55, of Lancaster, had been under house arrest since last month after being arrested for possessing various guns, pipe bombs and ammunition in violation of federal law. In an indictment returned on Wednesday, Puckett also was charged with obstruction of justice.
Don York, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Louisville, said Puckett managed to slip out of an electronic monitoring bracelet and flee from his home.
"We know he's a fugitive," York said. "We consider him armed and dangerous."
The ATF on Thursday began offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to Puckett's arrest.
York said Puckett posted a message on a militia electronic bulletin board in which he proclaimed his innocence and complained about his treatment by the ATF.
"I must leave society at this time for my own safety," Puckett said in the message, posted at 12:19 a.m. Thursday. "Again, I state I have broken no laws."
Puckett was initially arrested in Lexington last month, shortly after completing an interview with a crew for a television show.
Puckett has said he is the commander of the Kentucky State Militia, a civilian paramilitary group. The television crew wanted to interview Puckett about Steve Anderson, who is accused of shooting at a patrol car in Bell County on Oct. 14.
Anderson, who once operated a shortwave radio program from his home in Pulaski County, was kicked out of the militia group for on-air comments insensitive to religious and ethnic minorities. He remains a fugitive.
"The last conversation I had with him, he seemed at ease and comfortable with the situation," said Gatewood Galbraith, Puckett's defense attorney.
Puckett pleaded innocent in his initial court appearance and was later released from the Fayette County Detention Center. Under terms of his release, he was to remain in his home and wear a monitor.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seized the guns and other weapons from Puckett's home in Lancaster in late November. Authorities allege that Puckett was barred from owning any kind of weapons because of a previous felony conviction.
Puckett has called the seizure a theft of private property and a violation of his rights. He has argued that the 1968 federal gun-control act prohibiting felons from owning guns does not apply to him because he was convicted of the felony two years before the law's enactment.
In the electronic message, the militia commander explained that he fled because he refuses "to donate years of my life for something that I have not done.
"I can no longer participate in a society that is governed by such mobsters," Puckett said, referring to the ATF. "They will come up with all kinds of tricks to trick you."
Puckett said he will monitor the search for him and that he will respond on cue.
"The only thing that I will accept is the dropping of all charges and complete exonoration," he wrote. "None of my family or militia officers will know where I am. Rewards will do no good and intimidation will get you in trouble."