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| Fort McCoy Theft Acquittal
Fort McCoy Acquittal - 153 Vehicle Theft
Attorney Tracey Wood's Client Acquitted
3 Convicted; 2 Acquitted
Special to the Journal Sentinel :: 14 June 1997
::
By Kevin Murphy
MADISON WI. A Federal jury Friday found
three men guilty and acquitted two others on charges stemming from the
theft of 153 vehicles valued at $13 million from
Fort McCoy from 1994 to 1996.
The jury deliberated for 21 hours over three days before
handing down the verdicts on the charges of conspiracy
and conversion of government equipment in the
largest known theft of equipment from a U.S. military base.
Convicted Friday were: Dennis Lambert, 53, of Black River
Falls, the base's former range maintenance officer, who was found guilty
of conspiracy in the thefts. He was also found guilty on three of five
conversion charges and not guilty on two others. Loyd Pilgrim, 37, of
Amery, a military surplus dealer and owner of Ladd Auto Crushing, who
was found guilty of conspiracy and two of three conversion charges against
him. Grant Kruger, 43, of Maplewood, Minnesota, president of the Military
Vehicles and Arms Museum of Minnesota, who was found guilty on one count
each of conspiracy and conversion. David Butler, 44, of Fairfield,
Iowa, owner of Vintage Power Wagons, and George Pretty, 58, of Sturgis,
Mich., owner of Surplus Enterprises, were acquitted on charges of conspiracy
and conversion. Kruger, Lambert and Pilgrim each face lengthy prison
sentences at a Sept. 10 hearing before U.S. District Judge Barbara B.
Crabb. Each count of conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years
in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum sentence for conversion is
10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Their punishment will be based on the fair market value
of the vehicles at the time they were illegally converted, said U.S. Attorney
Peggy Lautenschlager. Kruger, in tears after the verdicts, said only that
he felt "pretty bad" and will appeal.
Lambert's attorney, Ed Genson, said his client will also appeal. "It's
a court of law, not a court of justice," said one of Lambert's sons,
declining to give his name. The two acquitted men, Butler and Pretty,
said the justice system treated all five men on trial unfairly. "I
feel like the truth, at least on my part, came out. I knew I didn't do
anything. They put me through hell. God answers prayer," Pretty said.
"I don't care what they say -- I've gotten to know these people.
I think they've misjudged them."
Despite the two acquittals Friday, government prosecutors
were happy with the verdicts because "we believe we presented strong
cases against all of the individuals," Lautenschlager said. She declined
to speculate Friday on why jurors would find three defendants guilty and
acquit two others when presented with the same theory for all five defendants.
The government contended that all the defendants knew the equipment was
stolen by Anthony Piatz Jr. of Hudson, who bribed one base employee, Lambert,
to help acquire and load the vehicles, and another, Donald Crandall, of
Sparta, to create phony documents transferring the vehicles to Piatz.
Both Crandall and Piatz were convicted on theft and bribery charges earlier
this year and face sentencing next month. Defense attorneys said Friday
they believed that the fewer ties a defendant had to Piatz the less likely
jurors were to find him guilty.
"I think Butler and Pretty were one more level removed
from Piatz than the other (defendants). It seems like people who worked
with Piatz on a daily basis, like Lambert and Pilgrim, in the jurors'
minds, had more opportunity to learn the stuff was stolen than the others,"
said Pretty's attorney, Michael Dunn. Butler's attorney, Tracey
Wood, agreed.
"Lambert was on the base, Pilgrim hauled things off
for Piatz, and Kruger did the titling for Piatz while Pretty and Butler
essentially dealt with Piatz by phone," Wood said.
Butler did own an abandoned missile base with Piatz near
Roberts, in St. Croix County, and although Piatz used the base to store
some of the stolen vehicles, Wood said it was obvious that the missile
base was in no other way connected to the vehicle thefts. Defense attorneys
argued that Crandall's ability to create convincing forged documents fooled
everyone into thinking Piatz had the authority to remove the vehicles.
"Pretty testified that he did not know that the missile
launcher sold to Dr. (Ronald) Barnes in Tulsa (Oklahoma) was stolen. We
argued that Crandall had phonied up the documents so well that everyone
believed they were real. My client didn't know the equipment was stolen,
and he was only telling Piatz about someone interested in some stuff for
sale," Dunn said.
Although found not guilty, Pretty has been punished by losing
a government contract to restore vehicles and was kicked out of a military
preservation society because of the charges filed against him, Dunn said.
Butler, who sells vintage army trucks in Iowa, will decide whether to
sell the missile base or turn it into a military museum as planned, Wood
said. Fort McCoy is a 60,000-acre training base near Sparta, 95 miles
northwest of Madison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Printed with permission.
Related Topics:
Attorney Tracey A. Wood | Theft
| Conspiracy
Federal Charges | Federal
Court
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