May 9, 2008 1:50 pm US/Central
Attorney: Lake Forest Man Was Only A Gun Collector
Benjamin Stevens' House Raided, Bond Set At $700,000
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (STNG) ―
A north suburban man charged with illegally possessing 85 weapons -- including at least one .50-caliber machine gun -- is a collector who acquired the firearms legally, his attorney said Friday.
That claim didn't prevent a Lake County judge from setting bond at $700,000 for 49-year-old Benjamin Stevens, who was arrested Thursday when Illinois State Police and federal ATF agents raided his sprawling Lake Forest home and confiscated the weapons.
His attorney contended Stevens was a gun enthusiast who had an interest in historic firearms, which he had obtained legally when he had a valid FOID card.
"He's a collector. He's had them for years," defense attorney Douglas Zeit said during a brief bond hearing. "Most of them were in crates."
Judge Daniel Shanes noted the variety and size of the arsenal as he set a bail that will require Stevens to post $70,000 cash to be released.
"I know what a .50-caliber machine gun is," Shanes said. "We're not talking about a Revolutionary War flintlock."
Stevens kept most of the guns in his basement and hadn't fired any of them, Zeit said.
"None of them had been shot, none of them were loaded. All were obtained through lawful means," said Zeit, who outside the courtroom declined to comment further on the charges.
Prosecutor Kristen Robinson said the weapons seized included a military-issue .50-caliber machine gun capable of being mounted on a vehicle, a .50-caliber sniper rifle, an Uzi submachine gun, a .30-caliber rifle, as well as 50,000 rounds of ammunition -- some of it capable of cutting through steel armor.
"We believe there was armor-piercing ammunition in the house," Robinson said.
Federal investigators are testing the ammo to determine if it is armor-piercing and checking the machine gun to see if it is fully automatic -- circumstances that could result in federal charges, authorities said. The state charges Stevens faces now carry a maximum 5-year prison term.
Stevens' FOID card was revoked for reasons of his mental health, Robinson said, without elaborating.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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