Larry Hopkins, 70, pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal weapons charges, prosecutors and a defense lawyer said. The leader of a small right-wing militia accused of illegally detaining immigrants as they crossed the U.S. border with Mexico pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal weapons charges, prosecutors and a defense lawyer said.
“He had agreed that he was guilty of it and felon in possession is a pretty easy crime to prove,” O’Connell said.A U.S. Attorneys spokeswoman said that during a hearing in federal court in Albuquerque, Hopkins had admitted to being in possession of nine firearms and ammunition for those weapons at the time of his arrest in April.
Prosecutors say Hopkins is a leader of the United Constitutional Patriots, a group the American Civil Liberties Union and other critics have accused illegally detained migrants by impersonating law enforcement. He was beaten in a federal jail on April 22, suffering blows to the head and a bloody nose, according to his attorneys, who sought a psychiatric evaluation for their client after he reported suffering headaches, dizzy spells and memory loss.