Former Pa. militia commander indicted on firearms charge

WILLIAMSPORT – A Centre County guy who 20 years in the past was the self-proclaimed commander of the Pennsylvania Citizens Militia has been indicted all over again on federal weapons fees.

The indictment returned Thursday in U.S. Center District Court docket from Ronald William Hertzog, 59, of the State School place, accuses him of illegally possessing as a convicted felon rifle pieces and ammunition.

The charge states on Feb. 2 that Hertzog possessed two rifle reduce receivers and the next ammunition: 125 rounds of 9mm caliber, 145 rounds of 5.56 caliber, two .50-caliber rounds, 214 rounds .45 caliber and 10 20-guage shotgun shells.

He experienced been detained Monday when he was arraigned on a criminal complaint.

Hertzog, a former Penn Condition pc programmer, was sentenced in 2003 to 70 months in jail soon after pleading responsible to a cost of illegally possession of firearms. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Courtroom of Appeals affirmed the conviction.

His amassed selection of firearms then included machine guns, armor-piercing ammunition and bombs. He also experienced maps of airports.

Prosecutors termed him a terrorist but he claimed he was just making ready for Globe War III. “I appreciate my region,” he explained to the late Choose James F. McClure Jr.

Assistant U.S. Legal professional Frederick E. Martin, who is now retired, explained Hertzog as a unsafe gentleman with the capacity of being a terrorist or supplying weapons to companies.

The prosecutor observed Hertzog was fascinated in offering kits for changing semiautomatic weapons to automated.

Amongst the motives McClure gave for what he termed a harsh sentence was a letter Hertzog sent from jail pursuing his arrest to an specific who posted it on the site of the Libertarian Occasion of Oklahoma.

The letter said in portion he would arrive out of jail “bigger, badder and better” than when he went in.

The choose also referred to Hertzog’s admission he experienced device guns, explosive products and counter-surveillance tools and statements attributed to him that he could “take out federal government radio towers.”

Federal brokers began their investigation into the militia in the spring of 2001 but Hertzog was not arrested till June 19, 2002.

At his request immediately after his laptop or computer was seized, his teen-aged daughter went to a friend’s property and emailed militia customers advising them the corporation experienced been infiltrated.

The appeals court docket located Hertzog’s publish-arrest carry out substantially hampered the capability to carry on the investigation into unlawful buys of weapons.

Its belief also pointed out he had a loaded gun on his individual, a different in his minivan and had 10 kilos of black powder in his trailer that could have been ignited by his repeated smoking.

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