FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  
           Contact: Special Agent Tracy Hite
           Telephone: (415) 744-7001
                                                        Date: September 3, 1998



                           Guilty Verdict in Explosives Case
                                Sutter County, California

           After a day of deliberations, a unanimous Sutter County jury convicted Vernon Weckner on state
           charges of possession of explosives, reckless possession of explosives in a public place and forgery of
           vehicle registration tags. Weckner's conviction stems from his role in a stolen explosives investigation
           that spanned several states. 

           Following an explosion in Olivehurst, California, in April of 1997, that injured two people, including a
           two-year-old child, ATF agents from the Sacramento Field Office began an investigation. The ATF
           agents, joined by ATF agents from Cheyenne, Wyoming and investigators from Sutter and Yuba
           Counties, Yuba Police Department, California Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation, the
           California State Fire Marshall's Office and the Hot Springs, Wyoming, Sheriff's Office, embarked on
           an investigation that would lead them across several states and ultimately back to Sutter and Yuba
           Counties and the recovery of blasting caps, electric detonators and more than 500 pounds of stolen
           Petrogel, a brand of dynamite. 

           Weckner's conviction follows several others in this investigation. The investigation identified William
           Goehler, who was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years to life in December of 1997, for
           possession of explosives and child endangerment. It was Goehler's house in Olivehurst that was
           rocked from its foundation during an explosion that injured him and his two-year-old daughter. Two
           others, Kevin Quinn and Alan Carpenter, were sentenced in January of this year by a Federal Court
           Judge the Eastern Judicial District of California for possession of stolen explosives and received 37
           and 36 months, respectively. 

           ATF congratulates its partners in this investigation. "A quick response and the development of a
           cooperative team led to the successful apprehension and prosecution of several individuals and most
           important, the recovery of the largest cache of stolen explosives in recent Northern California history."
           said ATF San Francisco Field Division Acting Special Agent in Charge, JoAnn Kocher. 


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