One guilty, another is freed in ANFO trial

Marquette, Mich. — An Upper Peninsula farmer and builder has been found guilty in federal court here, while his cohort was cleared in a trial last month of all charges of illegally possessing and transporting two tons of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO). John Francis Lechner, 65, of Sault Ste Marie, who has been in federal custody for nearly a year, will be sentenced in October and faces several years in federal prison. Co-defendant Kenneth Ageed Kassab, 53, also of Sault St. Marie, was able to convince the jury that he was told the ANFO was fertilizer and that he was merely a hired-hand with minimum involvement – moving the bags from one pallet to another – and was acquitted on all counts. Lechner, owner of the farm property as well as a rock quarry he purchased years ago, had the material stored at his farm, which he was renting to a family. “Somebody, probably through the nastiness of his divorce case, tipped off police that Lechner had two tons of ANFO, detonating cords, blasting caps, and boosters,” Karl Numinen, Kassab’s attorney, told Green Markets. “Years ago he (Lechner) purchased ANFO by the 50-pound bag and had 84 bags. At the time of purchasing them he had permits that had expired, but he still had the ANFO.”