BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
News-Democrat
A state trooper’s legal defense against a federal charge that he illegally possessed a “machine gun,” is based in part on a theory that no crime occurred.
Swansea attorney Tom Keefe said his client, Sgt. James Vest, 39, of O’Fallon, didn’t personally own the M-16 automatic rifle he is charged with illegally possessing since 1998.
“It’s my understanding that the firearm in question is registered to the Illinois State Police,” said Keefe.
Keefe said he decided to make a public comment about an ongoing criminal case, an unusual tactic in a local federal prosecution, because interim U.S. Attorney Edward McNally had issued a written statement to newspapers about the case on Tuesday. McNally did not discuss specifics of the case.
McNally’s statement was in response to a letter endorsed by 10 metro-east chiefs of police, two sheriffs and two state senators asking that federal weapons charges against Vest and two other troopers be handled administratively instead of in a courtroom. The police chiefs, while not condoning illegal activity, agreed in the letter that there was no intent to commit a crime. A former Glen Carbon physician also has been charged in the case.
Citing what he called a state police regulation, Keefe said Wednesday that any officer such as Vest who is assigned a weapon owned by the state police has only two options at the end of his shift: secure the firearm in his car or take it home. Keefe said Vest used the automatic rifle in his duties as a SWAT team member and as a firearms instructor.
So when federal agents allegedly found the rifle at Vest’s home in December, it was where it was supposed to be, Keefe said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Massey, who handles media inquiries, issued a statement in response to Keefe’s comments. It stated that federal and state rules exist governing what attorneys for either side can say and not say about a prosecution.
Without commenting directly on Keefe’s comments, Massey stated, “The U.S. Attorney’s office will continue to honor those rules.”
As for any facts in the case against Vest, Massey’s written statement said, "...a complete understanding by the public of all the facts that may or may not be present in any given case will have to await the time that any evidence is presented in court.”
Vest’s legal team consists of three high-powered metro-east lawyers: Keefe, who has made millions from civil judgments; Bruce Cook of Belleville, another civil court multimillionaire; and former appellate court justice Clyde Kuehn of Belleville. All are Democrats.
This marks the second time in less than a year that an attorney connected to the dominant St. Clair County Democratic Party has gone head to head with a federal prosecutor.
Last year, Cook, who rarely appears in criminal court, represented Charlie Powell, one of five defendants who were found guilty of vote fraud in East St. Louis federal court. Powell, the head of the East St. Louis Democratic Central Committee, is awaiting sentencing on a conspiracy conviction. Cook declined to comment.
Keefe, however, said that because of McNally’s statement, he felt he could comment to some extent.
As for bringing an indictment against his client, Keefe said, “Everyone makes mistakes, including the ATF,” he said, adding, “Does anyone remember Waco?”
These were references to the former federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- now called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- and to the 1993 shootout near Waco, Texas, that killed four ATF agents and six members of a religious group called the Branch Davidians. After a lengthy standoff, 55 more members of the group died in a fire.
Keefe directly challenged McNally regarding the case against his client, although his challenge was not discussed in Massey’s written response.
“Perhaps the U.S. attorney might want to look into those facts more with respect to Sgt. Vest,” Keefe said, “And as it relates to Sgt. Vest, we wonder whether or not they have sufficiently, carefully investigated all of the facts.”
Contact reporter George Pawlaczyk at gpawlaczyk@bnd.com (mailto:gpawlaczyk@bnd.com) and 239-2625.
Belleville News Democrat (http://www.belleville.com/)