TAMPA — Jeremy Brown, a former U.S. Army Special Forces grasp sergeant linked to the Jan. 6 rebellion, was discovered responsible Monday on six of 10 federal felony prices associated to weapons and labeled info that authorities present in his Tampa residence.
After a weeklong trial, a jury of six males and 6 ladies deliberated about 5 hours Monday afternoon earlier than deciding that Brown was responsible of illegally possessing two weapons, a pair of hand grenades and a single labeled doc associated to the seek for a previously lacking soldier in Afghanistan.
However the panel additionally discovered Brown not responsible of possessing 4 different paperwork associated to nationwide protection, which federal brokers discovered on a CD inside his girlfriend’s leisure car.
Brown, 48, remained stone-faced, his arms at his sides as he stood at a protection desk whereas the decision was learn.
Senior U.S. District Choose Susan Bucklew set a March 13 sentencing date.
Federal brokers discovered the unlawful gadgets final 12 months throughout a search of Brown’s property amid a probe into his connection to the occasions of Jan. 6, 2021, on the U.S. Capitol.
He’s accused in a separate case in Washington, D.C., of being among the many rioters who disrupted certification of the 2020 election outcomes, although Brown will not be accused of truly getting into the Capitol constructing.
Brown didn’t deny that the sawed-off shotgun and the short-barreled rifle that brokers discovered at his residence had been his. The weapons weren’t registered in a federal database, as required by legislation.
However his lawyer, Roger Futerman, argued to the jury that many of the different gadgets — together with the grenades and a CD with a purple label marked “secret” which contained paperwork detailing army actions in Afghanistan — had been planted by federal brokers.
The protection lawyer pointed to forensic proof that confirmed DNA on the hand grenades got here from somebody apart from Brown. He additionally highlighted plenty of peculiarities in the best way brokers carried out and documented the search. Most notably: they turned off Brown’s residence safety cameras upon getting into.
“The proof was manipulated and planted,” Futerman stated. “I can’t let you know when it was planted or who planted it. However the forensics don’t lie.”
Futerman additionally asserted that for Brown to be responsible of possessing labeled materials associated to nationwide protection, there must be proof that he had a “dangerous function” for the fabric.
Federal prosecutors scoffed on the declare that proof was planted. They stated Brown knew he wasn’t speculated to have the gadgets.
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“He knew the principles,” prosecuting lawyer Menno Goedman stated in closing arguments. “However he broke them anyway.”
There have been different revelations all through the trial that appeared to dampen Brown’s claims.
Through the testimony of his girlfriend, Tylene Aldridge, the jury discovered that she’d appeared up the house tackle of one of many federal brokers concerned in Brown’s arrest. They had been additionally advised of a recorded jail telephone name between the couple. Within the name, prosecutors stated, Brown could possibly be heard boasting about his forthcoming trial testimony.
“I may lie my ass off and so they’d love the s— out of me,” he was quoted saying. (Brown testified that the assertion was taken out of context.)
The jury additionally heard about one other jail telephone name between the couple, this one from shortly after Brown’s arrest. Within the temporary recording, Aldridge advised him a few of the issues brokers took from their residence.
She talked about the grenades. Brown stated nothing.
She then talked about that brokers turned off the couple’s safety cameras.
“They unplugged them?” Brown asks.
Prosecutors stated his lack of response when advised of the grenades confirmed that he knew they had been there.
“That silence is a confession,” stated Assistant U.S. Lawyer Daniel Marcet.
Brown has remained defiant within the face of prices that might carry him a hefty jail sentence. From jail, he ran an unsuccessful marketing campaign for the Florida Home of Representatives.
Court docket data and Brown’s personal public statements have linked him to the Oath Keepers extremist group. 5 Oath Keepers had been convicted of varied crimes final month after a prolonged trial in Washington. They included the group’s nationwide chief, Stewart Rhodes, and the chief of the Florida Oath Keepers, Kelly Meggs — each of whom had been discovered responsible of seditious conspiracy, essentially the most severe felony convictions to consequence so removed from the occasions of Jan. 6.
However Brown’s connection to Jan. 6 wasn’t talked about within the Tampa trial.
A lot of the main target was on his 20-year Army profession. His lawyer highlighted the constructive evaluations he obtained every year from his superiors, who famous Brown as having a status for honesty and loyalty.
Prosecutors targeted on the circumstances that preceded Brown’s retirement from the service in 2012. That 12 months, he was reprimanded after army officers discovered a number of unauthorized recordsdata, together with some pornographic photos, on his military-issued pc. Brown left the service quickly after. On the witness stand, he advised the jury he’d already deliberate to retire.
Shortly earlier than that, Brown had authored a doc, labeled “secret,” which detailed search efforts for lacking soldier Bowe Bergdahl. Prosecutors urged he took the doc with him for nefarious functions. Brown claimed he didn’t imagine the knowledge in it was labeled. It was one of many gadgets brokers discovered once they searched his residence, and the one one he was discovered responsible of possessing illegally.
“We’re not disputing that at one level this defendant did serve his nation honorably,” Marcet stated. “However this case reveals simply how far he fell.”
