77-year-old man avoids prison after pleading guilty to grenades, drug charges
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BLACKFOOT — A 77-year-old Aberdeen man will serve five years of probation after pleading guilty Monday afternoon to having illegal hand grenades and drugs.
Freamont Jess Ellis was originally charged with five felony charges of unlawful possession of a bomb, trafficking methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and two counts of manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance.
He accepted a plea agreement on Jan. 30, where he pleaded guilty to felony illegal possession of explosives, an amended charge of possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver and a possession psilocybin with intent to deliver.
The state dismissed the remaining counts and recommended that Ellis be placed on probation with an underlying sentence of two years fixed and three years indeterminate to run concurrently for each charge.
Ellis was sentenced by Senior Judge Stevan Thompson, who followed the agreement and ordered that Ellis also had to pay $2,500 in fines. Ellis will also serve 100 hours of community service.
‘A series of poor, misguided decisions’
During Ellis’s sentencing, his defense attorney, Jeffrey Brownson, spoke of the support Ellis has from family and friends, who filled half the courtroom.
He acknowledged that while Ellis has this support, his client’s actions were done under the belief that he was helping the people to whom he was selling the drugs.
“This case is about a 77-year-old man who made a series of poor, misguided decisions — decisions he fully acknowledges and deeply regrets,” Brownson said.
Since his arrest, Brownson said that Ellis has done everything in his power to take responsibility and accept the consequences that lie before him.
Before hearing from Brownson, Thompson had a question about the explosives that were found at the man’s home.
Bingham County Prosecutor Andrew Hart told the court that law enforcement informed him that Ellis was a prepper and that there was no indication he ever planned to use them in a terroristic way.
After reviewing the pre-sentence investigation, Brownson said that Ellis’s criminal background was very minor. The most serious charges appeared to be traffic infractions, he said, and the chance that he could reoffend was low.
“This offense is an aberration for a 77-year-old man. It’s not a pattern of conduct that he’s lived his life by,” Brownson said.
Brownson asked the court to follow the plea agreement, noting that the man has strong family support and has made strides to find locations to begin his community service.
Ellis had a chance to make a statement. He told the court, his family and friends that he was sorry for his actions.
“How embarrassed I am. I made some very bad choices, and I accept that,” Ellis said. “I didn’t think about the consequences. I thought I was helping these people, but I was very, very wrong.”
Initial arrest
On Nov. 7, a deputy with the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop with Ellis after he had run a stop sign near 1900 South.
Once the deputy approached the driver’s side door, he allegedly smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from within. The deputy spoke to Ellis about the smell, and the 77-year-old said he had some inside the vehicle with a plastic ammo case.
After searching him, the deputy found four bags of a leafy green substance and a small plastic tube containing white residue. He was told it was cocaine.
He reported finding a handgun inside Ellis’s truck, along with the following:
In a large ammo box:
- 31.7 grams of psychedelic mushrooms
- 35.6 grams of a brown substance
- 338.75 grams of powder
- 31.7 grams of brown powder
- 70 grams in 5 baggies of brown powder
- 5 syringes of 5 ml yellow liquid
In a small ammo box:
- 92.56 grams in 3 bags of powder
On Ellis’ person:
- 116.55 grams in 4 bags of marijuana
- 1 plastic tube of cocaine
In court documents, police reportedly asked Ellis if he was dealing narcotics. He responded that he was dealing to veterans in the area, “but not young guys.”
Detectives obtained a search warrant and found a pound of marijuana in Ellis’s home next to a safe in a detached shop. Inside the safe, there were vials of THC.
Detectives also found a plastic bin and discovered multiple hand grenades, which put the search on pause until a bomb squad from Idaho Falls could respond.
The bomb squad found nine grenades and destroyed them on scene.