Official Who Destroyed Weaver Report Faces Prison Kahoe Scuttled Critique Of Fbi Actions During Ruby Ridge Standoff; Sentencing Set For Aug. 7

Sentencing has been set for Aug. 7 for former FBI executive E. Michael Kahoe, who admitted destroying a critical assessment of how the government handled the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff.

Kahoe, a 25-year FBI veteran who resigned Jan. 1, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the obstruction of justice charge. But in entering his plea on Oct. 30 before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina, he agreed to cooperate with U.S.

Attorney Michael Stiles in Philadelphia, who is still investigating whether other FBI officials covered up the government’s actions during the 11-day siege.

Randy Weaver’s 14-year-old son and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed in a shootout that began the confrontation at Weaver’s remote Ruby Ridge cabin. His wife was killed by an FBI sniper on the second evening of the standoff.

Weaver and associate Kevin Harris were both acquitted of murder and other charges in connection with the siege, and the government was severely sanctioned during their trial for withholding evidence from their attorneys.

As head of the FBI’s violent crimes and major offenders section, Kahoe was responsible for preparing a critique of the FBI’s performance at Ruby Ridge.

But despite a legal requirement, he initially refused to turn over key documents to the U.S. attorney in Idaho during the Weaver-Harris prosecution and then refused to turn over the after-action critique to the Justice Department. After that, he told subordinate Gale Evans that he had destroyed his copies of the report and instructed Evans to do the same - and to dispose of a computer disk on which the report was stored.

Evans along with former deputy FBI director Larry Potts, his deputy Danny Coulson and inspector’s aide George Michael Baird remain suspended pending resolution of the investigation.

A sixth agent, Anthony Betz, was cleared of any wrongdoing and has returned to active duty.

During the North Idaho siege, the agents at the scene were operating under modified rules of engagement they maintained were approved by top agency officials in Washington. Those rules were later declared illegal.

Weaver is living in Montana with his three daughters.

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