2 Freemen Plead Guilty; 12 Others Go On Trial

Two more of the Montana Freemen broke ranks and pleaded guilty, but 12 other members of the anti-government militia who held off the FBI for 81 days went on trial Wednesday.

Nine of them boycotted the session and watched on closed-circuit television. A jury of seven women and five men was chosen.

Dana Dudley Landers, 48, of Four Oaks, N.C., pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen goods, mostly vehicles and office equipment purchased in North Carolina with worthless checks and brought to Montana. U.S. Atty. Sherry Scheel Matteucci said Landers agreed to testify against the other Freemen, and then face state charges in Colorado.

Later, 69-year-old Emmett Clark pleaded guilty to threatening to kidnap and murder a federal judge. Matteucci said Clark did not agree to testify against the other Freemen.

The charges against the remaining defendants in the 40-count federal indictment include conspiracy to commit fraud; wire, bank and mail fraud; armed robbery of TV news crews; and threatening to kill a federal judge.

Six Freemen were tried this spring on similar charges and five were convicted. Several others have plea-bargained.

The key figures in this trial are the Freemen’s four leaders: LeRoy M. Schweitzer, 59, Daniel E. Petersen Jr., 55, Rodney O. Skurdal, 45, and Dale M. Jacobi, 55.

Repossessed farms owned by members of Clark’s family northwest of Jordan became the Freemen stronghold. The 1996 standoff, which ended peacefully, began after the FBI captured Schweitzer and Petersen.