A grand jury has returned an indictment charging five people with alleged ties to a Connecticut white supremacist group in an elaborate scheme to steal firearms from someone in the Naugatuck Valley area and get them into the hands of an out-of-state white supremacist group.
The 18-month investigation led to a trip to court for three of them on Monday. One of the five is a soldier who has been serving in Virginia, who will be transferred to Connecticut. The fifth suspect is incarcerated on unrelated charges.
The allegations include a plot to steal an arsenal of weapons from a Connecticut home, a shopping spree at a Milford auto parts store for tools to make explosive grenades and a trip to a Milford home to gather explosive powder to make grenades.
There are also allegations of cryptic phone calls ending in code for “Heil Hitler” and shipping packages marked with Swastikas.
Kenneth Zrallack, 29, of Ansonia, the leader of the Connecticut White Wolves, a self-described white supremacist group now known as Battalion 14, had been charged, along with Alexander DeFelice, 32, of Milford, and William R. Bolton, 31, of Stratford.
Edwin T. Westmoreland, 27 of Stratford, who is alleged to have participated in some of the activities of the Connecticut White Wolves/Battalion 14; and David Sutton, 46, of Milford, an associate of DeFelice, have also been charged.
A 15-page court document refers to “Witness A,” who met with the Connecticut White Wolves/Battalion 14, identified himself as a convicted felon and as a member of an out-of-state white supremacist group and said he wanted to obtain firearms.
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In response, DeFelice said he knew someone who made firearms at his Naugatuck Valley residence from parts he had obtained online and had an arsenal worth several hundred thousand dollars at his home, according to court documents.
From there, a plot to break into the home and rob the man of the weapons was crafted, but the indictment does not allege that the planned robbery occurred.
“The charges in this indictment allege that a group of individuals were involved in the manufacture and transfer of grenades to an out-of-state white supremacist group, the illegal sale of firearms to a convicted felon, and the planning of a gun theft,” U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy said. “I want to thank the members of the JTTF for their diligent investigative work that has preceded these arrests.”
Members of FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Zrallack, Westmoreland and Sutton on Saturday morning. They appeared on Monday in court in Bridgeport and entered pleas of not guilty. They are detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for Thursday, March 25.
On Saturday, the U.S. Army, Criminal Investigation Command arrested Bolton, who has been serving in the United States Army in Virginia. He will be transferred to Connecticut to be arraigned on the charges.
DeFelice has been detained in federal custody since Jan. 28, when he was arrested on related firearms charges.
If convicted on all counts in the indictment, DeFelice faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 70 years, Bolton and Westmoreland each face a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years and Zrallack and Sutton each faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
