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ATF: One ‘Tutor’ With Guns, Ammo In SUV Is Convicted Felon
May 16, 2012
Two weeks after men that claimed to be tutors headed to Warrington Middle School with multiple weapons in their vehicle were stopped in Flomaton and Pensacola, there have been no arrests. But the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives now says that one of the men was a convicted felon, leading to the seizure of weapons.
The names of the men, ages 35 and 39, have not been released because they were not charged with any crime. But the ATF now says that the 35-year old has felony conviction on his record, making him ineligible to possess a firearm. Authorities have not said exactly what felony crime the man committed in his past.
But that felony conviction was enough for the ATF to have probable cause to seize the weapons.
April 25: Men And Vehicle Stopped In Flomaton, Ala.
A traffic stop about 5 p.m. April 25 at the Alabama/Florida line turned up stash of weapons and thousands of dollars in cash.
Officer Chris Neal with the Flomaton Police Department conducted a routine traffic stop about 5 p.m. after observing the driver of a 2012 Chevrolet Suburban make an improper lane change on Highway 29. He stopped the vehicle just over the bridge between Flomaton and Century, still inside Alabama but only a few yards from Florida.
For more photos from the Flomaton traffic stop, click here.
Neal asked for and was granted consent to search. After finding several guns in the vehicle, the he immediately called for backup from the Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office.
A search of the vehicle by Neal and another officer from the Flomaton Police Department uncovered multiple handguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, multiple ammunition clips, tasers, police handcuffs, brass knuckles and “suspicious” solid black clothing, gloves and hoodies. The passenger claimed the guns belonged to him, and he produced a valid weapons permit.
Officers also located a paper bag containing $8,400 in $100 bills inside the vehicle. One of the men told a story about having IRS troubles and dealing in cash to avoid problems with the agency. The cash was not in the vehicle when it was stopped in Pensacola.
Multiple SIM cards — memory chips that allow cell phones to switch numbers and identifiable information instantly — were visible in the vehicle stopped in Flomaton, along with a laptop computer and multiple wireless internet modems.
The vehicle was also searched for drugs by an Escambia County (Fla.) K-9, but no illegal drugs were located.
The driver and passenger, both adult males, said they were on their way from the Birmingham area to tutor students the following day at Warrington Middle School. One of the men was dressed in a t-shirt with a tutoring company’s logo on the front and the words “Free Tutoring” on the back. They produced business cards and other items from a tutoring company in New Jersey.
The men said they had the arsenal of weapons for their own protection because they sometimes tutor students in “bad areas”.
Officers spent about two hours searching the vehicle, questioning the men as they stood handcuffed by a police car and running various computer records checks on the vehicle, the firearms and the men. All of the weapons were legally possessed, according to officers. Both men were released from Flomaton without any criminal charges or traffic citations.
April 26: Federal Agents Take Over
On April 26, the two men were reportedly spotted by law enforcement at a motel on New Warrington Road, about a mile from Warrington Middle School. When they pulled out of the motel parking lot onto New Warrington Road just before 9 a.m., deputies conducted an “investigative stop”, according to Sgt. Mike Ward, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. When they found multiple weapons in the vehicle, Escambia deputies called the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
ATF agents took over the investigation and seized the weapons, including four guns, from the men. They also found computer printed maps with directions to Warrington Middle School.
After a lengthy search of their rental 2012 Chevrolet Suburban, the men were allowed to continue on their way.
Tutoring Company CEO “Flabbergasted” By Incident
Both men were confirmed to be employees of Innovative Educational Programs (IEP) in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. One of the men, according to his business card (pictured), is the company’s “Southeast Regional Director”.
Tony O’Donell, CEO of the company, learned of the incidents involving his employees from a NorthEscambia.com phone call.
“I am just flabbergasted by the suspicions,” O’Donnell said from his New Jersey office. He said the company immediately suspended both men and launched an internal investigation. “We will be asking them a lot of questions.” He said IEP will likely terminate both men.
All IEP employees undergo background screenings, and the company does not allow employees to carry guns, the CEO said.
According to Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas, IEP is not contracted to provide any services whatsoever in Escambia County. Thomas said IEP is not a licensed tutoring provider in Florida. NorthEscambia.com independently confirmed that IEP is not an authorized tutoring service recognized by the Florida Department of Education; however, the company is a legitimate tutoring provider in several states, including Alabama and Mississippi.
O’Donnell said the men were in the Pensacola area to “scout” schools for market research.
“We’ve never had an incident like this before,” he said. “This is just beyond belief. I regret that our company has indirectly caused so many people to be upset there (in Escambia County).”
School District Responds
When Escambia County Superintendent Malcom Thomas learned about the Flomaton traffic stop, the weapons and the claims that the men were headed to Warrington Middle, immediate steps were taken to ensure the safety of students at Warrington and every other school in the district.
School resource officers, principals and other key district employees were quickly made aware of the situation. They were provided with information from law enforcement, as well as unpublished NorthEscambia.com photographs showing additional details about the vehicle, including a tag number, and photographs of the men.
Thomas said a school district protective services employee responded to the New Warrington Road traffic stop, and a trespass order was issued against the men forbidding them from visiting any public school in the district.
“If they so much as set foot on any one of our campuses, they will be arrested for trespassing,” he said.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
19 Responses to “ATF: One ‘Tutor’ With Guns, Ammo In SUV Is Convicted Felon”
“…The government is taking over a day at a time and I am not some fundamentalist nut.”
Then why do you sound like one? The government is not “taking over”.
You probably believe the U.S. was behind the WTC attacks. I speak for MANY U.S. citizens: if you have such a distrust for your Government, go live in another country. You contribute nothing.
REGARDING:
“I am not some fundamentalist nut”
Nobody ever thinks he’s a nut, not even me. And your points are valid. We are left with the thought there is more going on than is told. Some things just smell fishy.
David for fruits and nuts
This is not legal and if the guy had the money they could hire a federal attorney and get all his guns back, so when i go to work and I have a 45, small 9mm and smaaler 380 in my glove box or car safe and one of my employees get in the truck with me and he has a felony they can confiscate my weapons, come on. The government is taking over a day at a time and I am not some fundamentalist nut but our rights are in jeopody. Americans better vote , look at Obama care same thing. People please vote.
>>>Why is is that the names of the perps have not been released. Meth heads, robbers, car thieves have their names and pics posted here and in most other publications…
Because, like the story says, that have not been charged with any crime in connection with these incidents. So law enforcement, including ATF, has not released their names to the media.
Why is is that the names of the perps have not been released. Meth heads, robbers, car thieves have their names and pics posted here and in most other publications… Who’s protecting WHO? Come on….
All I have to say is great stop officer Neal and great team work between all departments involved!!
Why was they pulled over for?
REGARDING:
“If it is not provided to a law enforcer if someone is a felon when doing a routine check…then it should be required. Especially when weapons are found in their possession!!!”
Legally, you would have a hard time requiring that. The supreme law of the land states unequivocally that nobody can be compelled to give evidence against himself. If it is illegal for a convicted felon to have weapons, then telling the officer either that he has them or that he is a convicted felon would be a violation of that protection.
Now, if you mean it should be required to keep a data base of those convicted felons whose civil rights haven’t been restored, that COULD be done, just so you don’t require the offender to provide the information.
David considering retained rights of felons
If it is not provided to a law enforcer if someone is a felon when doing a routine check…then it should be required. Especially when weapons are found in their possession!!!
REGARDING:
“Isn’t it a crime for a felon to possess firearms? Why wasn’t he arrested?”
One of the civil rights a convicted felon loses is the right to keep and bear arms — along with the right to vote and hold public office. Some push for automatic restoration of civil rights at the end of any prison term, only thinking convicts need to be able to vote for their peers, but I tend to think it would be wiser to let them show they can be responsible citizens first. Their debt to society is not paid in full simply by having been behind bars or having paid fines or having been put on probation.
No matter what I think, different states have different rules regarding restoration of civil rights and we don’t know what the rules are wherever he was convicted. Thus, this looks more like an on-going story.
David for good citizens
Not enough info as to why the guns are being kept by ATF.
The other local rag says they were seized because they were in close proximity to a felon.
Not that the felon was in possession.
That is a huge difference, as the ATF action says they can confiscate your legal weapons if you allow a felon into your vehicle or home.
Matters not if you know he is a felon or not.
Whether these two men are criminals or not, how is an “investigative stop” probable cause to pull any citizen over and be searched? The ATF legally confiscated the weapons and yet released the suspects? All this sounds kind of fishy to me . More going on here than we’re being told I suspect.
Since when is it illegal to carry cash? I’ll admit that all of those items in their possession collectively is rather suspicious.
Great job by law enforcement? Lets see? If these two were up to illegal activities then why are they still free and not in custody? Why did they have to involve the ATF? I think a little more information to the public is needed before a “Great Job” can be passed out on this.
A lot of criminals are set free in this country because of improper procedures by law enforcement(rights violations) and the inability of prosecutors to convict in a court of law. not to say that this is the case here, due to the fact that, I think, not the whole story has been told here by law enforcement.
Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the officers who are out there risking their lives every day to protect us from the dregs of our society. To that I say “GOOD JOB” and thank you for your service.
Since these two seem to have covered their tracks with barely plausible excuses for driving around with a carload of “tutorial aids ” (no mention as to exactly what subject they proposed to tutor) and law enforcement agencies seemingly can’t do anything, their identification should be provided to IRS. In order to explain the $8400 cash in a paper bag “One of the men told a story about having IRS troubles and dealing in cash to avoid problems with the agency. The cash was not in the vehicle when it was stopped in Pensacola.” I guarantee IRS always gets its man – put them on the case because he surely needs to pay his fair share and more than likely does not. He would wind up wishing he’d been arrested instead!
Good work officer Neal. A shame Flomaton PD was unable to get a forfiture on that cash.
what was the felony for. That would be interesting to know, let me think domestic violence?
They claimed the did thorough checks to begin with, If this issue with the felony was the case, why wasn’t he arrested, especially with that being a federal crime and prison for up to 15 years. Also..
A person whose civil rights and firearm authority have been restored cannot be convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon .. was his firearm authority restored and the authorities not mentioning that? all of this still sounds strange and fishy.. There is a reason why they did not arrest the men or man with the felony
Isn’t it a crime for a felon to possess firearms? Why wasn’t he arrested?
i wouldnt leave 8000 in a hotel.Im sure they spent that on something in Warrington…..or dropped a payment off
Great read. Now we know why the weapons were taken. Great job by all involved.