Federal prosecutor wants to inventory Lindemuth firearms, probation officer seeks release revocation

Federal prosecutors want access to inventory perhaps 500 firearms housed in storage units owned by Topeka real estate developer Kent E. Lindemuth, a defendant in a federal case and a convicted felon in a Shawnee County District Court case, according to U.S. District Court records.

The prosecution motion seeking access to the guns was filed in a criminal case in which Lindemuth is charged with more than 100 counts of bankruptcy fraud. Lindemuth was released from federal custody on conditions including that he isn’t to possess a firearm nor sell any firearms he owns.

Lindemuth is charged with 103 counts of bankruptcy fraud after he allegedly purchased 103 firearms after filing for bankruptcy. The prosecution motion was filed on Oct. 12.

But late on Friday, a probation officer of the U.S. Probation Office in Topeka filed a document in U.S. District Court seeking a court order to bring Lindemuth before a district court judge to show cause why his bond shouldn’t be revoked.

The two-page document said Lindemuth, who is prohibited from possessing firearms while under indictment for a felony, had access to firearms from June 1 to Oct. 17 at two Topeka storage units not listed by the defendant, the document said.

The probation officer also said that on four occasions in September and October, she had attempted to make unannounced home contacts with Lindemuth at the address he listed, but he wasn’t there.

“The U.S. Probation Office does not believe the defendant lives at his reported residence,” the document said.

The case next returns to U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree’s courtroom in Topeka on Monday when a status hearing will be conducted. The Friday filing orders Lindemuth also to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gary Sebelius on Nov. 10 in connection with the Friday filing by the probation office.

After filing for bankruptcy, Lindemuth purchased more than $80,000 worth of handguns, which were bought between Aug. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2014, according to a federal court indictment on June 1.

Lindemuth purchased the firearms without telling his creditors or the bankruptcy trustee, according to the indictment. All were handguns, including revolvers and semi-automatics ranging from .22-caliber to .45-caliber.

Assistant U.S. Richard Hathaway said in a motion that in conditions allowing Lindemuth’s release from custody after he was indicted, the judge ordered that Lindemuth wasn’t to have access to firearms.

The U.S. Probation Office agreed with a plan in which Lindemuth’s firearms were to be turned over to a relative of Lindemuth for safe-keeping, Hathaway wrote in a motion to reconsider the conditions of Lindemuth’s release.

But the plan fell through when the relative refused to be custodian of the firearms.

When Lindemuth was convicted of a felony on Sept. 28 in Shawnee County District Court, that prohibited him from possessing a firearm under federal and state laws, Hathaway wrote.

When the custodian plan fell through, the U.S. Probation Office and the U.S. Attorney attempted to inventory the Lindemuth firearms, “which may number in excess of 500,” Hathaway wrote.

The firearms are housed in two 10-square-foot units owned and controlled by Lindemuth, who has the only key, Hathaway wrote.

Hathaway wrote “this is not a satisfactory arrangement for the government particularly because the counsel for the defendant has refused a request by the U.S. Probation Office to access these firearms for inventory purposes.”

Hathaway’s motion seeks a hearing to determine whether conditions should be modified to insure prosecutors have “at least joint access to the firearms and the U.S. Probation Office be allowed to do an inventory.”

As of Friday, the Lindemuth defense hadn’t filed a response to the prosecution motion. A date to start the federal trial hasn’t been scheduled.

In his bankruptcy action filed Nov. 9, 2012, Lindemuth reported debts totaling more than $3.5 million, the indictment said. The cases — a corporate bankruptcy and a personal bankruptcy — were administratively closed Dec. 29, 2015, after final decrees were entered, according to court documents.

The Lindemuth indictment also seeks an order forcing Lindemuth to forfeit the 103 firearms and to pay a monetary judgment of about $80,000.

On Sept 28, a Shawnee County District Court jury convicted Lindemuth of one count of making a criminal threat, a low-level felony, to an Oklahoma trucking company owner and acquitted Lindemuth of a second count of the same charge.

When testifying, Lindemuth denied threatening to kill or shoot the trucking firm owner during a dispute over a trailer and cargo valued at more than $500,000 in October 2014.

In the state conviction, Lindemuth is to be sentenced on Nov. 17.