FAIRBANKS, Alaska—
A federal judge has ruled that two searches conducted in a case against members of a Fairbanks-area militia were legal.Prosecutors say the searches uncovered weapons and are central to the case against Schaeffer Cox and two other members of his Peacemaker's militia.
Cox and Coleman Barney and Lonnie Vernon are scheduled to go on trial in May on charges of planning to kill federal employees and owning illegal weapons.
Barney's attorney last month argued that prosecutors behaved recklessly by depending on a convicted felon to infiltrate Cox's militia. Prosecutors argued investigators verified the information.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/AwaO8e) reports that Judge Robert J. Bryan concluded problems didn't necessitate throwing out the searches, which were conducted on Barney's North Pole home and a trailer left in a parking lot.
