A Cunot man who was a member of a militia group that planned to disrupt a college play last summer was sentenced Friday to 37 months on federal weapons charges.
Dallas Fultz, 66, was arrested in August after undercover officers became worried that one of the group's leaders, Fred Keuthan, was plotting another militia member's death.
Fultz, known as Capt. Smitty, and Keuthan were members of the self-styled 14th Regiment of the Indiana State Militia, which is not connected with any state agency.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Eide said authorities began investigating the group months ago after learning of its plans to stop federal marshals from seizing the Indianapolis Baptist Temple. The Southside Indianapolis church had become a celebrated cause among some radical right groups because of its refusal to withhold Social Security and income taxes on its employees.
The militia group's plans to intervene never materialized. At various times during a three-month holdout, church leaders asked militia groups to stay away, and the church was seized without incident on Feb. 13, 2001.
Authorities said that when Fultz and Keuthan were arrested, militia members had been planning to protest the play Corpus Christi, which features a Christ-like character who is homosexual. The play was being staged at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. However, militia members mistakenly believed the play was being staged at Indiana University's Bloomington campus.
Investigators said the protest apparently was conceived as an alibi for the planned killing of a militia member suspected of being an informant.
Keuthan is awaiting trial on state charges stemming from the murder plot in Owen County.
Fultz pleaded guilty to selling a sawed-off shotgun and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney recommended that Fultz, who has a history of mental illness, be assigned to a prison where he can receive treatment.