Magistrate Judge Susan Cole decided to continue the hearings for Dan Roberts, Samuel Crump and Ray Adams next Tuesday at 10 a.m. because Fredrick Thomas' hearing took most of the afternoon.
His attorney, Jeff Ertl, argued that the ailing Navy veteran was no flight risk, while U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney said he was clear and present danger to the community. McBurney claimed the men talked of assassinating former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, among others.
All four defendants entered not guilty pleas.
Kevin and Mellissa Roberts spoke up for their uncle Dan after court adjourned.
"He may not agree with another person's political views, but he will strongly support their right to have and express them," Kevin Roberts said of his uncle. "Dan poses a threat to nobody and is the kind of person everybody would like to have as a friend."
He's a very good person," Mellissa Roberts added, citing her uncle's Vietnam War record. "We'd like for him to be home right now."
She also called charges against her uncle and the other defendants a 'bunch of baloney'.
Prosecutors have accused the 73-year-old Thomas and Roberts, age 67, of conspiring to obtain an explosive and possessing an unregistered silencer. Adams, age 55, and Crump 68 years old, were indicted for conspiring and attempting to make ricin, a biological toxin that can be lethal in small doses.
The Associated Press assisted with this story.
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Mellisa Roberts said her Uncle Dan was a good person who needed to be home
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/11/243451