Opinion ID: 775981
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Government Investigation

Text: 9 From July 3, 1997 to August 30, 1997, government agents conducted a wiretap on Carter's telephone. The government recorded numerous statements by Graham which indicated his possession of significant weaponry and firepower and his willingness to use it on federal agents and police officers. On August 13, 1997, federal agents executed a search warrant at Metcalf's property, which was NAM's training site. One witness described Metcalf's home as a miniature military compound. J.A. at 1150. There, agents discovered that Metcalf's property, approximately 40 acres, had been fortified with bunkers and foxholes and that he had set up a firing range. From his home they seized machineguns; loaded semi-automatic assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition; assault rifles; thirty pounds of smokeless gun powder; silencers; several feet of time fuse; four grenade hulls and a live grenade fuse; flare and tear gas launchers; and military combat equipment including flak vests, helmets, and gas masks. They also seized books and manuals on how to make automatic weapons, construct bombs, and make silencers. Subsequent to this seizure, members of NAM continued to meet regularly at Speed's and at the mall through March 1998. 10 Pursuant to a forty-page affidavit sworn to by an ATF agent, a magistrate judge authorized an arrest warrant for Graham and a search warrant of Graham's trailer home on March 17, 1998. On March 18, 1998, federal agents from the FBI and ATF conducted a search of Graham's trailer home. 3 The agents seized the following from his home: tins containing marijuana seeds and marijuana paraphernalia; plastic containers of marijuana; 32 marijuana seedling plants; a pistol; a Ruger .22-caliber rifle; a semiautomatic assault rifle; a sniper rifle; an ammunition carrier; a magazine and clips; and several videotapes, books, and articles relating to ammunition, combat, and survival. While this search was occurring, agents performed a warrantless search of Graham's pickup truck from which they seized the following: a semiautomatic rifle, a Beretta pistol, a bag of marijuana, and several cans of ammunition. 4 Graham was arrested during the search and taken into custody by the agents.