Tag Archives: Reese Family

The Knox Update

Reese Family Thanksgiving

Being Thankful for Less Pain

Barack Obama has nominated US Attorney for New Mexico, Ken Gonzales, to a lifetime appointment as a federal judge.  This nomination is particularly significant because Gonzales was the US Attorney who oversaw the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of the Reese family.  At the time of the Reese’s arrest, Gonzales had the audacity to release a statement saying, “Those who sell firearms knowing that they will be illegally smuggled into Mexico to arm Mexican Cartels share responsibility for the violence that has been devastating Mexico.”  So far, he has not called for the prosecution of any of the federal agents or administrators who oversaw Operation Fast and Furious.

Gonzales has much to be thankful for this season, but what about the Reese family?  For them, being thankful is a relative term.  The Reese family is thankful that, so far, the bad they’ve suffered has not been as bad as it could have been.  They have been so abused, harassed and persecuted that they feel thankful for the crumbs of “less bad” news that comes their way.  They’re thankful that federal agents arrested them while they were away from their home rather than taking them during the massive raid involving hundreds of officers, helicopters, and armored vehicles.  They were thankful last March when, after 8 months in jail, Terri Reese was released on bail to a halfway house.  They were especially thankful when youngest son, Remington was acquitted of all charges (after spending a year in jail), and they were thankful when Terri, husband Rick, and older son Ryin were cleared of all but one count each, two for Ryin, of the comparatively minor charge of lying on 4473s – even though the lies they were convicted of were perpetrated by federal agents and the Reeses’ crimes were that they “should have known” that the agents were lying.

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The Knox Update

Reese Family Not Guilty on 24 of 28 Counts

Jury rejects Conspiracy,  Smuggling, and Money Laundering charges

           After almost a year in jail and a three week trial, a jury has declared the members of the Reese family to be not guilty on 24 of the 28 counts against them.  The jury did convict Rick Reese and his wife Terri on one count each of making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms.  Eldest son Ryin was convicted on two counts of the same charge, and younger son Remington was acquitted of all charges.  The convictions are expected to result in sentences of about one year for each count, but harsher penalties are possible.  Sentencing is scheduled for early October.  Rick and Ryin will stay in jail until then, but Terri will remain out on bail until sentence is passed.  Remington was released from custody at the conclusion of the trial.

As reported previously in this column, Rick Reese and his family ran a gun shop outside of Deming, New Mexico for over 17 years.  Over that time they built up the business into a profitable enterprise and Rick had planned to retire and close the store.  His son, Ryin, 24, was in the process of obtaining an FFL to open a store of his own in nearby Las Cruces.  In August of last year, local ATF agents asked the family to come down to their offices to discuss Ryin’s FFL application.  When the Reeses showed up at the ATF office, they were arrested on charges of conspiring to illegally sell firearms and assist in smuggling them to Mexico, money laundering (because the money paying for the guns was from illegal activities), and making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms – lying on the 4473.  Almost all of those charges were thrown out or returned as Not Guilty.

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