Prosecution Not Expected in Bush Case : Oxnard: The Secret Service says the man may have been inebriated when he allegedly discussed killing the President.

The U.S. Secret Service very likely will not seek prosecution against Thomas Robert Ward of Oxnard for allegedly making verbal threats against the life of President Bush, a senior agency official said Thursday.

Clint L. Howard, special agent-in-charge of the Secret Service’s Los Angeles office, said Ward told agents that he was only “discussing tactics” with a neighbor and, in any case, might have been inebriated when he made his apparently threatening remarks against the chief executive.

“A filing appears remote,” Howard told The Times.

According to a Hollywood Beach neighbor, Ward made a comment four months ago that he had conducted surveillance of the site of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley.

“He said he wanted to assassinate President Bush,” the neighbor said.

Bush, along with four former U.S. Presidents and dozens of other dignitaries, is scheduled to attend Monday’s ceremonies.

Ward, 45, was arrested Oct. 20 by U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies after the discovery that he had a cache of automatic weapons and 27,000 rounds of ammunition in his garage.

An ATF complaint charging Ward with possession of an unregistered machine gun has been filed in federal court in Los Angeles by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Uttam Dhillon declined to say whether an indictment was imminent. Felony indictments are normally returned Fridays and Tuesdays. If convicted, the maximum federal penalty for possession of an unregistered firearm is 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Meanwhile, Ward, the son of a former Oxnard mayor, is being held without bail at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Because his court-appointed attorney, Phil Bronson, has not yet asked for a new bail hearing, it appears virtually certain that Ward will still be incarcerated Monday, the day of the library ceremony.

“It’s just not realistic that he’s going to be out at that time,” Bronson said.

Howard of the Secret Service said his agents have a few interviews left before finally deciding whether to seek charges against Ward. He said he expects to make a report to the U.S. attorney today on his agency’s findings.

Ward continues to deny planning to kill Bush, Howard said.

Instead, he said, Ward has declared that he was only theorizing about how difficult it would be to get off a clean shot at Bush given the rugged terrain surrounding the library grounds.

“If someone was going to do it, that would be a bad place to do it,” was how Ward described his July conversation with a neighbor, Howard said.

Whatever the case, Ward told agents, “If something was misconstrued, it was because I had too much alcohol,” Howard said.

According to a financial affidavit Ward gave a U.S. magistrate, he said he is a self-employed real estate broker with an annual income of $160,000. He listed his only financial obligation as the $750 monthly rent he pays for a condominium in Hollywood Beach.

A sheriff’s search warrant affidavit said a deputy received a tip about Ward’s arms cache on Oct. 13. Three deputies then conducted surveillance of Ward’s residence on Oct. 19, according to the affidavit.

During the surveillance the deputies observed Ward, wearing a red and white baseball cap, and another individual making frequent trips carrying weapons from the Harbor Boulevard condominium to Ward’s garage, the affidavit said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Baugher said in the affidavit that he “observed numerous ammunition type boxes stacked against the east wall of the garage . . . “

Baugher added: “All during the time that these subjects were entering and leaving the garage they were constantly looking around and appeared to be nervous. Each time a vehicle passed, Ward especially would stare intensely at the vehicle and driver.”

As it turned out, Ward was found to possess several fully automatic weapons, handguns, tracer ammunition, night-vision goggles and weapons silencers.

A law enforcement source said no action was contemplated against the individual who was helping Ward carry the weapons to the garage.

Neighbors described Ward as someone who viewed himself as a rugged individualist who sometimes wore military fatigues.

“He considers himself a survivalist,” Howard said.

The Secret Service official added that he believes the agency and local law enforcement have done everything possible to secure the Reagan library area for Monday’s ceremony.

“Everyone that is of concern to us, we know exactly where they are,” he said. “Most are in institutions. We feel the situation is well in hand.”