WORLD NEWS JANUARY 2, 2020 / 4:59 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Leader of U.S. border militia group pleads guilty to weapons charge

Dan Whitcomb, Julio-Cesar Chavez
3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - The leader of a small right-wing militia accused of illegally detaining immigrants as they crossed the U.S. border with Mexico pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal weapons charges, prosecutors and a defense lawyer said.

Larry Hopkins, 70, agreed to plead guilty to an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm because he “felt like he had made his point” to the U.S. government, his attorney, Kelly O’Connell, told Reuters in an interview.

“He had agreed that he was guilty of it and felon in possession is a pretty easy crime to prove,” O’Connell said.

A U.S. Attorneys spokeswoman said that during a hearing in federal court in Albuquerque, Hopkins had admitted to being in possession of nine firearms and ammunition for those weapons at the time of his arrest in April.

Hopkins, who has four previous felony convictions, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, $250,000 in fines and penalties and three years of supervised release. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months.

-snip-