> Army Rangers, medic arrested on drug, firearms charges


>  b.. Arrests made after ATF agents set up a sting operation
>
>  c.. Affidavit: ATF "became aware" some soldiers wanted to rob
> dealers of their cocaine
>
>  d.. The investigation began in November
>
>  e.. The Army Rangers are an elite light infantry fighting force
>
> ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Four active-duty U.S. soldiers -- three of
> them elite Army Rangers -- have been arrested and charged with
> planning to rob drug traffickers.
>
> Wearing street clothes, Rangers Carlos Lopez, 30, and David Ray
> White, 28, and Army medic Stefan Andre Champagne, 28, appeared in
> federal court Friday.
> They're charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and
> with carrying firearms in connection with that conspiracy.
>
> U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman ordered them held in custody
> until a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
>
> Another Ranger, Randy Spivey, 32, is scheduled to appear in court
> Monday.
> "It is a sad day when members of one of America's most elite corps of
> soldiers, the Army Rangers, are alleged to have become involved in
> criminal activity," U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case.
>
> "These men were trained to defend the people and principles of this
> country, not to use their skills to steal cocaine from drug dealers
> at gunpoint."
> Lopez, White and Champagne were arrested Thursday at a storage
> facility in Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb just north of Atlanta,
> by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
> who had set up a sting operation.
> Spivey was apprehended at Camp Frank D. Merrill, an Army Ranger
> training center in Dahlonega, Georgia, on Friday, the ATF said.
> Dahlonega is about 60 miles north of Atlanta.
>
> Lopez, White and Champagne were to commit the robbery while Spivey
> covered for them back at the camp, where the men are stationed,
> according to an affidavit filed with U.S. District Court.
>
> All four were to get a cut of the spoils of the robbery, the
> affidavit from ATF Agent Brett Turner says.
>
> The investigation began in November, when the ATF "became aware" that
> some soldiers were interested in robbing drug dealers of their
> cocaine, Turner says.
> He posed as a disaffected security guard for the drug traffickers who
> wanted to "rip them off." The first try to set up the "robbery"
> failed, but a second attempt earlier this month succeeded, leading to
> the arrests at the storage facility and, a day later, the Ranger camp.
>
> A subsequent search found that Lopez, White and Champagne were
> carrying semiautomatic pistols and had an AR-15 assault rifle and a
> field pouch with 15 magazines of ammunition for it in their vehicle.
> Agents also found a ski mask, binoculars and a Taser among the items
> the men brought with them.
> The four soldiers face minimum mandatory sentences of 10 years in
> prison each for the drug conspiracy and an additional five years,
> consecutive, for the weapons allegation.
>
> The Army Rangers are an elite light infantry fighting force capable
> of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
>
> They became a permanent presence in the U.S. military in the 1970s.
> From the Colonial Era until that time, Rangers were activated for
> specific missions or conflicts and then deactivated when their work
> was completed.

Merlin wrote:
> On Jan 26, 2:56 pm, "_ Prof. Jonez _"  wrote:
>
> Just more USA hating babble.

Why do you hate America so much, eh coward?

> Army Rangers, medic arrested on drug, firearms charges


>  b.. Arrests made after ATF agents set up a sting operation
>
>  c.. Affidavit: ATF "became aware" some soldiers wanted to rob
> dealers of their cocaine
>
>  d.. The investigation began in November
>
>  e.. The Army Rangers are an elite light infantry fighting force
>
> ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Four active-duty U.S. soldiers -- three of
> them elite Army Rangers -- have been arrested and charged with
> planning to rob drug traffickers.
>
> Wearing street clothes, Rangers Carlos Lopez, 30, and David Ray
> White, 28, and Army medic Stefan Andre Champagne, 28, appeared in
> federal court Friday.
> They're charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and
> with carrying firearms in connection with that conspiracy.
>
> U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman ordered them held in custody
> until a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
>
> Another Ranger, Randy Spivey, 32, is scheduled to appear in court
> Monday.
> "It is a sad day when members of one of America's most elite corps of
> soldiers, the Army Rangers, are alleged to have become involved in
> criminal activity," U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case.
>
> "These men were trained to defend the people and principles of this
> country, not to use their skills to steal cocaine from drug dealers
> at gunpoint."
> Lopez, White and Champagne were arrested Thursday at a storage
> facility in Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb just north of Atlanta,
> by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
> who had set up a sting operation.
> Spivey was apprehended at Camp Frank D. Merrill, an Army Ranger
> training center in Dahlonega, Georgia, on Friday, the ATF said.
> Dahlonega is about 60 miles north of Atlanta.
>
> Lopez, White and Champagne were to commit the robbery while Spivey
> covered for them back at the camp, where the men are stationed,
> according to an affidavit filed with U.S. District Court.
>
> All four were to get a cut of the spoils of the robbery, the
> affidavit from ATF Agent Brett Turner says.
>
> The investigation began in November, when the ATF "became aware" that
> some soldiers were interested in robbing drug dealers of their
> cocaine, Turner says.
> He posed as a disaffected security guard for the drug traffickers who
> wanted to "rip them off." The first try to set up the "robbery"
> failed, but a second attempt earlier this month succeeded, leading to
> the arrests at the storage facility and, a day later, the Ranger camp.
>
> A subsequent search found that Lopez, White and Champagne were
> carrying semiautomatic pistols and had an AR-15 assault rifle and a
> field pouch with 15 magazines of ammunition for it in their vehicle.
> Agents also found a ski mask, binoculars and a Taser among the items
> the men brought with them.
> The four soldiers face minimum mandatory sentences of 10 years in
> prison each for the drug conspiracy and an additional five years,
> consecutive, for the weapons allegation.
>
> The Army Rangers are an elite light infantry fighting force capable
> of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
>
> They became a permanent presence in the U.S. military in the 1970s.
> From the Colonial Era until that time, Rangers were activated for
> specific missions or conflicts and then deactivated when their work
> was completed.