Additional Firearms Charges Filed Against Kirby Kehoe Defendant Agrees To Remain In Custody For Violating Terms Of His Pretrial Release

Thu., March 12, 1998

By Bill Morlin billm@spokesman.com

More federal firearms charges were filed Wednesday against Kirby K. Kehoe, the father of brothers videotaped in a shootout with Ohio police.

At a U.S. District Court hearing, Kehoe, 49, agreed to remain in jail for violating the terms of his September release on federal firearms charges in Montana.

He is charged with illegally possessing a shortened-barrel, fully automatic assault rifle.

Additional charges are expected after evidence is presented to a federal grand jury in Spokane.

Defense attorney Mark Casey told U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno that Kehoe would waive his right to hear evidence aimed at revoking his pretrial release.

Authorities said a .223-caliber SGW rifle was found in his possession last weekend when he was arrested in Springdale, Wash.

Federal agents also found two fully armed hand grenades in a camper at a ranch near Springdale, where Kehoe and his wife, Gloria, were staying with their six sons.

Their two oldest sons, Chevie and Cheyne, are serving lengthy prison terms after being convicted of the attempted murder of Ohio state police officers in February 1997.

The latest developments involving the Kehoe family occurred after a domestic assault involving Kirby Kehoe and his wife, court documents say.

Gloria Kehoe called federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents last week after she had been struck in the face and an assault rifle had been pointed at her the following day, according to the documents.

ATF agents seized the Olympic Arms assault rifle, which is equipped with a laser sight. It was modified with a 12.5-inch barrel and was converted illegally to fully automatic, agents said.

Kirby Kehoe initially was arrested for violating terms of his earlier release from federal custody on a pending indictment. That indictment accuses him of possessing two firearms tied to a triple murder in Arkansas.

Kehoe did not appear before a grand jury in Little Rock, Ark., that returned a racketeering indictment last December against Chevie Kehoe, Faron Lovelace and Danny Lee, sources said.

Those men face possible death penalties if convicted of racketeering.

As a condition of being released without bond, Kirby Kehoe agreed last September to remain at his home in Yaak, Mont., and not possess firearms.

After his arrest, ATF agents searched a storage facility in Thompson Falls, Mont. There, they found 11 other firearms, including two converted machine guns, and hand grenade components.

, DataTimes

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