corrente

Now I would like somebody to seriously explain to me the likelihood that if this guy were named Mohammed rather than Norman, and was brown rather than pasty pink, Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft wouldn't be on stage together doing a song and dance in top hat and tails, bragging on the capture of this fiend?

(via Michigan news service)

A man who had an arsenal of firepower at his rural compound near Cadillac, including two heavily armed "war wagons," pleaded guilty to possessing machine guns and pledged to cooperate in the hunt for other shadowy rebels.

That anti-government swagger was gone Wednesday as he explained he owned 13 machine guns, most made from kits and then modified into illegal weapons.

"Very easy to come by. You can find them on the Internet," Somerville, 44, explained.

Authorities found much more last fall during a search of his 40-acre property, about 15 miles northwest of Cadillac.

Agents discovered an underground bunker, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of pounds of gunpowder and manuals on guerrilla warfare, "booby traps" and explosives.

There were chilling pictures of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the cross hairs of a high-powered rifle scope drawn over them.

Finally, there were Somerville's self-described war wagons: a van and Jeep Cherokee outfitted with machine guns.

"The war wagons have been rendered harmless and are now in the junk yard," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd Meyer said.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for having a machine gun, though he hopes his cooperation with authorities could reduce any punishment.

Somerville told the judge that seven of his 13 machine guns were given to other people. He said he had no job before his arrest and was living off a "substantial" inheritance from his parents.

U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist also took guilty pleas from Somerville's allies: Donald Koshmider II, 39, who had a machine gun, and Jeffrey Horvath, 24, who committed a crime by not telling authorities about the weapons.