CUNOT -- A 28-year-old Cloverdale man Thursday became the third member of a militia group arrested in connection with a plot to kill one of their own members.

Federal agents and State Police fanned out across rural Putnam and Owen counties Thursday in a search for members of a militia group also believed to be involved in drug trafficking.

Gary Mayo was arrested by Indiana State Police at a Cloverdale apartment complex where authorities said sympathizers of the 14th Regiment of the Indiana State Militia are known to reside.

Mayo, the third militia member arrested in the past week, was being held Friday in the Owen County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond on preliminary charges of dealing more than 30 pounds of marijuana, police said.

Jeff Groh, agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office at Indianapolis, said additional charges could be filed.

Mayo is reportedly fluent in Spanish and helped arrange drug and gun transactions between leaders of the 14th Regiment and contacts in Mexico, State Police said.

Police still are seeking another militia member, Michael Smoot, Cloverdale, on weapons and conspiracy charges. Known in the group as "Tarheel," Smoot is believed to be armed and seeking asylum with other militia members in central Indiana.Police also are searching for Mayo's father, Donald. The elder Mayo was the intended victim of a convoluted murder plot planned by the leader of the militia group, Fred Keuthan, according to Groh.

Keuthan, 62, known locally as Col. Casey Hawk, was arrested last week after he allegedly hired an undercover Indiana State Police trooper to kill Donald Mayo. The undercover trooper had infiltrated the organization about six months ago.

Keuthan is being held in the Owen County Jail along with Dallas "Capt. Smitty" Fultz, 66, who was arrested last Friday at the Cloverdale Arby's on a charge of selling an illegal weapon, a sawed-off shotgun.

Authorities also have arrested a pair of Putnamville residents in connection with the drug-related portion of the militia investigation.

James Collett, 46, and his wife, Michelle S. Collett, 33, were arrested Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of methamphetamines, possession of paraphernalia, maintaining a common nuisance and dangerous control of a firearm. The Colletts, however, have not been described as members of the militia group.

Authorities would not elaborate on how many other militia members were being sought in connection with the group's plan last weekend to disrupt the play "Corpus Christi." The play was being performed at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, but members thought it was being staged at Indiana University in Bloomington.

This Story will be updated.
Owen County News Stories