Big weapon sought, jury told:
A dealer testifies the blast suspects eyed a grenade launcher.

By: Denny Walsh

A former firearms and explosives dealer testified Thursday that only the lack of money kept Charles Kiles and Kevin Patterson from buying a grenade launcher to blow up two huge liquid propane storage tanks in Elk Grove.

Ronald Rudloff testified in Sacramento federal court that he nearly sold the rocket-propelled launcher to the pair at a January 1999 Las Vegas gun show where he was a vendor.

Kiles, 51, and Patterson, 44, are being tried on charges of conspiring to build and use "a weapon of mass destruction" to destroy the tanks.

Rudloff said that Kiles and Patterson introduced themselves to him and said they were from Placerville. He told them he was from Stockton.

He testified that Kiles said he and Patterson were members of the San Joaquin County militia, based in Manteca and headed by Donald Rudolph, and suggested Rudloff may want to join the organization.

At this point, another man standing at the booth remarked that he had heard "there was going to be quite a bit of excitement created by some of the militant groups at the end of the millennium", according to Rudloff.

He recalled Kiles saying: "We're going to have a big bang ourselves. We're going to take out a couple of propane tanks."

Rudloff said he asked whether Kiles was referring to the twin 12-million-gallon Suburban Propane tanks near Grant Line Road and Highway 99 in Elk Grove.

"Yes, I am", he quoted Kiles as replying.

Then, according to Rudloff, Patterson grabbed Kiles by the arm and tried to pull him away, saying, "You talk too much. I need to get you out of here".

In addition to the major road and highway, there is both residential and commercial development in the immediate vicinity of the storage and processing facility.

Once Kiles revealed the intended use of the grenade launcher, Rudloff said that Patterson asked if the weapon actually had the capacity to destroy the tanks.

He told them that it was designed for use against military tanks.

Rudloff testified that he priced the grenade launcher, which was sitting in front of him on the witness stand, at $2,200.

"They wanted to take it with them, but they couldn't come up with the funds", he said, so he gave them a telephone number for a private security firm he then operated.

He said that Patterson was interested in what Rudloff had in his warehouse, and they inquired specifically about "a tank or armored personnel carrier" and hand grenades.

Patterson called the number three or four times, but he ignored the messages, Rudloff said. "I wasn't really interested in selling it to start with", he said of the grenade launcher, which he used as a "table display" to attract attention.

He said he first noticed Kiles and Patterson standing about 20 feet away, looking at his booth and talking to each other. Kiles approached the grenade launcher and put on his glasses to inspect it. With Rudloff's permission, Kiles shouldered it and peered through the illuminated scope.

Kiles then motioned for Patterson to join him and said, "Kevin, come on over and look at this. This is what we need", according to Rudloff.

He testified that he explained to Kiles the weapon could be made operable simply by removing a pin placed in it by federal firearms authorities.

On cross-examination by Kiles' attorney, Hayes Gable III, Rudloff said that the weapon's maximum range is 500 meters and a round will penetrate a maximum 260 millimeters of metal.

In answer to Gable's questions, Rudloff said he "didn't take it seriously" when Kiles told him of the plan to blow up the propane tanks.

He saw that as "a pretty tough chore", he said.

He thought the pair were "just shooting their mouths off" like a lot of people do at gun shows. "I don't want to see anybody get hurt", he added.

Rudloff's testimony is part of his obligation under the terms of a plea agreement in an unrelated criminal case in Sacramento federal court.

Rudloff pleaded guilty to a felony weapons violation - converting a handgun to a short-barrel rifle, but has not yet been sentenced.

Under cross-examination by Gable, he said he expects the prosecution to recommend "probation and maybe some home confinement".