Trial Underway for Crump, Adams

Opening statements are expected this morning in the trial of two men charged in an alleged plot to attack the U.S. government.

The trial of Samuel J. Crump and Ray H. Adams, both of Toccoa, started Monday in U.S. District Court in Gainesville in front of Judge Richard W. Story.

Jury selection took most of the day, with the panel of 12 jurors and two alternates being finalized at about 4 p.m. Monday.

Adams and Crump are charged by the government with conspiring to possess and produce the biological toxin ricin and attempted production of ricin. 

They were arrested back in November 2011. 

According to federal authorities, they were part of a fringe militia group that was planning attacks against citizens and the government. 

During bond hearings for the two back in 2011, attorneys for Crump and Adams argued the men merely possessed items that were legal on their own.

However, the government argued during the bond hearings that possession beame illegal due to the men’s alleged intent

Two other men were arrested in the case back in 2011 along with Crump and Adams.

Those two men, Dan Roberts of Toccoa and Frederick Thomas of Cleveland, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain an unregistered explosive device and silencer in April 2012 and were sentenced to five years in federal prison in August 2012.