Two Project 7 members sentenced

The Daily Inter Lake

The last two members of the paramilitary group Project 7 who have admitted their guilt were sentenced to prison Thursday.

They were among six people indicted on charges of federal weapons violations in Flathead Valley.

John William Slater, 54, and Steven Neil Morey 44, appeared before U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula Thursday.

They were arrested in a sweep by about 100 federal agents a year ago.

Morey was charged with conspiracy to possess illegal firearms and seven counts of illegally possessing firearms. Slater was charged with illegal possession of a machine gun. They both pleaded guilty.

Morey was sentenced to 37 months in prison and Slater was sentenced to 18 months.

They were identified as members of Project 7, a group accused of conspiring to kill local officials almost three years ago. Investigation by the FBI, local authorities, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives turned up weapons that were allegedly moved from home to home and were buried on U.S. Forest Service property for a while. The group reportedly amassed the weapons and trained with them.

Already charged and sentenced were David Burgert, Tracy Brockway, and James Day. All admitted illegally possessing weapons. Day and Burgert were charged with being felons in possession of a firearm.

One last defendant, Larry Chezem, formerly of Martin City, has pleaded innocent. He plans to represent himself at trial in federal court in June.