Bartender’s Jury Deliberates Weapons Charges

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 1997 | 9:13 a.m.

The case against Robert Mackeller Storms went to the jury late Tuesday, one day after he testified in his own behalf in U.S. District Court.

He said he and his brother sold a weapon to make a down payment on a pickup truck. Prosecutors allege he and two others made the weapons for intended use against the federal government.

Jurors pondered the charges for about 90 minutes on Tuesday, then retired for the night.

Storms, 30, was arrested July 30 after a 10-month federal investigation. He also is accused of selling pipe bombs to a government informant. Defense attorney John Aebi says his client was set up.

The defendant's brother, Kevin Storms, was a reserve deputy with the Storey County Sheriff's Office. Kevin Storms pleaded guilty to similar charges in October.

Another man, former sheriff's deputy Griffith Evan Rausch Jr., was scheduled for a change of plea hearing on the same day, but the outcome is unknown because his court proceeding was sealed.

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