SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Five more men have been charged in connection with an anti-government militia that authorities say was led by Army soldiers from Fort Stewart who stockpiled weapons and talked of bombing a Savannah park fountain, poisoning apple crops in the state of Washington and ultimately overthrowing the U.S. government.
A Liberty County grand jury indicted the five on charges of illegal gang activity and various counts involving theft, burglary and auto-break ins. Those crimes were committed to help fund the militia group, which called itself F.E.A.R., short for Forever Enduring Always Ready, District Attorney Tom Durden said Tuesday.
"The burglaries and entering autos, they were committed in an effort to fund F.E.A.R. and what F.E.A.R. was at least advocating they wanted to accomplish," said Durden, the top prosecutor for southeast Georgia's Atlantic Judicial Circuit.
The new indictments Monday bring to 10 the total number of people charged in connection with the militia group.
Four Army soldiers from neighboring Fort Stewart are charged with murder in the December slayings of former soldier Michael Roark and his teenage girlfriend, Tiffany York. Prosecutors say Roak was buying guns for the militia group and was killed, along with York, after he left the Army in order to protect the group and its plots. A wife of one of the soldiers has also been charged in the slayings.
Durden said Tuesday he's been told none of the five men charged in the latest indictments were still serving in the Army on active duty, but at least three of them had served in the military.
Only one of the new indictments was related to the double slaying. A man identified as Christopher Jenderseck was charged with evidence tampering. Durden said he had helped the accused soldiers burn clothing they had worn during the killings of Roark and York, who were found shot to death in some woods near Fort Stewart.
The men charged with gang violations and other criminal counts were identified as Adam Dearman, Timothy Joiner, Randall Blake Dearman and Anthony Garner. It was not immediately known if they had hired attorneys.
