On Thursday David Stone, Sr. 47 and his son Joshua Stone, 23, members of the Hutaree Militia, pleaded guilty in federal court to weapon charges, according to United States Attorney Barbara McQuade. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

From top left, David Brian Stone Sr., 44, of Clayton, Mich,; David Brian Stone Jr. of Adrian; Jacob Ward, 33, of Huron, Ohio; Tina Mae Stone. Bottom row from left: Michael David Meeks, 40, of Manchester; Kristopher T. Sickles, 27, of Sandusky, Ohio; Joshua John Clough, 28, of Blissfield; and Thomas William Piatek, 46, of Whiting, Ind. (U.S. Marshall)

During a hearing before United States District Judge Victoria Roberts, both David Stone, Sr. and Joshua Stone admitted that they possessed machine guns, specifically a Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle and a Double Star Corp. .223 caliber rifle respectively, knowing that the firearms would shoot, and were designed to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

Possession of such a firearms is in violation of federal gun laws. Based on their guilty pleas each defendant faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

 McQuade said, “We are gratified that these felony convictions mean that these defendants will never be permitted to possess firearms again. The court’s order dismissing the more serious charges in this case was disappointing, but it does not shake our commitment to dismantling groups who would harm our citizens and law enforcement officers, and these efforts will continue. While we disagree with the court’s decision, we respect its role and we recognize that reasonable minds can disagree on where legal lines are drawn. We thank the members of the jury for their time and service to this case.”

 McQuade commended the efforts of Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Graveline and Sheldon Light, along with the investigative cooperation of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and other federal agencies who worked diligently throughout the investigation and lengthy trial.