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TUCSON - Civil Homeland Defense founder Christopher Simcox was sentenced in federal court Friday for carrying a loaded weapon into Coronado National Memorial.
Simcox, 43, was convicted of two misdemeanor charges on Jan. 14 and sentenced to two years probation and a $1,000 fine.
The leader of the civilian border-patrolling group Civil Homeland Defense, he was arrested in January 2003 for entering the national park with a loaded .45-caliber Firestorm handgun concealed in the waistband of his pants while traveling with other Civil Homeland Defense members.
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While he told officers he was on a hike with two other men at the time and did not realize he had passed on to the federal land, he was initially charged with three misdemeanors.
The charges include carrying a loaded weapon inside a national park and knowingly giving false information to a federal park ranger for telling the arresting officer that he was not carrying a weapon. Simcox has contended since his arrest that he never lied to the officer, but rather she did not ask him directly about gun he was carrying.
"Every witness at the trial, except the arresting officer, testified she never asked him about the gun," said Joe Heinzl, Simcox's attorney.
He also was charged with operating without a special-use permit, a misdemeanor offense relating to the fact that officers believe Simcox and his fellow hikers were in fact on a civilian patrol of the U.S.-Mexico border at that time of the arrest.
The special-use permit charge was later dropped, but Simcox was convicted Jan. 15 of the two remaining charges. He had faced up to 8 months in jail as a result of the conviction.
As a special condition of the sentencing, Simcox has been barred from owning or possession a gun during his probation. Prosecuting attorneys had asked that Simcox be barred from the park lands and prohibited from participating in any activity of Civil Homeland Defense or other border-watch groups.
Heinzl said Friday the condition would not limit Simcox's ability to patrol with Civil Homeland Defense, which claims to have turned over more then 2,000 illegal immigrants to U.S. Border Patrol, but is endangering his life.
"There are a lot of people out there who don't like what he does, some very disturbed people." Heinzl said. "Now that this is public and they know he can't defend himself, his life could be in danger."
Bill Stein wrote on Nov 22, 2008 7:45 PM: