Man sentenced on federal weapons charge

The Daily Inter Lake

A man arrested outside the Whitefish Police Department with a homemade firearm has been sentenced to 21 months in prison.

During a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Andrew Scott Benningfield, 37, also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after serving his prison time.

Benningfield, of Whitefish, pleaded guilty in January to possession of a firearm without a serial number.

According to court documents, officers inside the Whitefish Police Department heard a loud banging noise outside the back door in August 2007.

Upon exiting the building, they saw a trash can had been knocked over and a lone man walking away with something in his hand.

Officers arrested Benningfield for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief after he admitted to pushing the can aside, reportedly because it was in his way.

Authorities confiscated the object Benningfield was carrying, a short length of metal pipe held by a vise grip with a cap and what appeared to be a firing pin on one end and a piece of cloth on the other.

When the device was disassembled, federal explosives experts identified it as a directional mine or a homemade gun.

Inside the pipe was a live .30-30-caliber round held by a rubber grommet. A broken drill bit was positioned directly over the primer.

Upon searching Benningfield's truck, investigators found two more cartridges with the rubber hosing already in place. Also found were 96 other rounds of ammunition and tools that could have been used to manufacture the device.

In exchange for Benningfield's guilty plea, prosecutors dropped possession of a destructive device and possession of ammunition charges.