Hillsdale man investigated for threats against Obama was convicted in militia killing, records show

Stephenson recently caught the attention of FBI and U.S. Secret Service agents after he made “violent threats” against the sheriff in Hillsdale County, President Obama and the U.S. government, according to affidavit supporting the complaint by FBI Special Agent Karly Wood.

John Maurice Stephenson

Agents interviewed Stephenson on April 23 at a McDonald's in Hillsdale about those threats and “remarks he made indicating his association with members of the Hutaree militia group,” the affidavit says.

Investigators interviewed him again June 4, three days in advance of Obama's visit to Kalamazoo, to determine whether Stephenson posed a threat to the president, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit says agents met him in the driveway of his Hickory Lane home, he invited them in and they saw boxes containing a total of 600 rounds of ammunition.

Stephenson was prohibited from having the ammunition because of his role in the 1994 killing of William Gleason, who was a bodyguard for Mark Koernke of Webster Township.

Stephenson and Paul Darland killed Gleason in Hillsdale County because they thought Gleason was spying on them for Koernke, according to a June 16, 2000, article in The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne. Stephenson and Darland were Koernke followers who had grown disillusioned with him, The Detroit Free Press reported in a Feb. 19, 1997 article.

Stephenson cut a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced in May 1998 to between three and five years in prison for accessory after the fact to a felony and a felony firearm conviction, records show. Darland, who the Free Press reported was the triggerman, remains in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.

Agents searched Stephenson's home on June 18, seizing more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a "kevlar body-armor flak-jacket," the affidavit says.

It's unclear whether Stephenson has any affiliation with Hutaree. U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh W. Brenneman Jr. ordered Stephenson to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, records show.

Nine members of Hutaree are awaiting trial after being indicted in March on charges including seditious conspiracy and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction. Five were ordered detained pending trial.

Among the allegations is that Hutaree members planned to kill a law enforcement officer and attack the funeral procession motorcade with homemade bombs.

Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at (734) 623-2527 or leehiggins@annarbor.com.