Accounts of an aggressive raid by federal agents on a Big Horn, Wyoming, couple’s home in 2023 brings back memories for former Sublette County Sheriff Hank Ruland of a similar incident in his county in 2002.
“I had never had a problem with federal agents before,” Ruland told Cowboy State Daily. “But boy, when they (ATF agents) hit the ground here, it was bad.”
Conversely, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) assesses the potential risks and level of response of each individual case, an agency spokeswoman said.
“There is a risk assessment, to not just the agents, but to the entire situation” and anybody else who might be involved, ATF Denver Field Division spokeswoman Crystal McCoy told Cowboy State Daily.
ATF doesn’t have SWAT team-style units on standby, she added. Any incident that might warrant a tactical team involves extensive advanced planning.
She added that she could not comment specifically about either the 2002 incident in Sublette County or the 2023 raid in Big Horn.
Too Heavy-Handed?
As Ruland sees it, ATF agents were far too rough with a man suspected of illegally making parts for fully automatic weapons in his mobile home in the tiny community of Boulder, Wyoming, Ruland said.
It echoes what Randy Kane and Noreen Scroggins said they went through during a pre-dawn raid at their house Nov. 23, 2023, he said.
Ruland said he wasn’t on the scene when three or four ATF agents went to serve a warrant at the Boulder man’s house in January 2002, but one of his detectives and two deputies were.
In retrospect, he regrets not being there.
“I should have handled it myself, but it turned into a clown show,” he said.
According to his deputies, the ATF agents pulled the man from his home and threw him down into the snow when it was five degrees below zero, Ruland said.
He said his men protested the ATF agents’ actions, but were told that the federal agents had higher authority to act.
“My guys never had an experience like that before, never worked with the ATF, and so they trusted them,” Ruland said.
The man ultimately wasn’t arrested and was cleared of any wrongdoing, he said.
The man later hired an attorney and threatened to file a lawsuit against the local sheriff’s office, but nothing ever came of it, he added.
“My guys were not dirty in this whole thing,” Ruland said.
More Details About Big Horn Raid
Especially in the sparsely populated Mountain West, ATF field offices have small staffs, McCoy said.
That means the agency often calls upon local law enforcement for help, she said.
Ruland said his office called the ATF to report allegations that the man was trying to build automatic weapons and was informed in advance that agents were on their way.
Similarly, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office was given advance notice that a search warrant was going to executed at Kane and Scroggins’ home, Sheriff Levi Dominguez told Cowboy State Daily.
His office was informed that the warrant had been issued because Kane was suspected of illegally possessing firearms, he said.
The ATF requested deputies be on the scene, and Dominguez said he sent “two marked deputy vehicles” to accompany the federal agents.
The deputies were not directly involved in the raid, although Kane and Scroggins were placed inside their vehicles after ATF agents detained and handcuffed them, Dominguez said.
According to Kane and Scroggins’ accounts, Kane lost his right to possess firearms after a nonviolent felony drug conviction about 20 years prior.
Several years after finishing his prison sentence on that charge, he applied to have his rights restored by the state.
According to Wyoming statutes, first-time, nonviolent offenders who have completed their sentences may have their rights restored.
The couple said that Kane had his rights restored and was issued a certificate from Gov. Mark Gordon’s office verifying that.
However, there is a gap between Wyoming statute and federal law, which states that felons, including nonviolent offenders, may not possess firearms.
And that might have been what prompted the ATF raid and seize firearms from the home.
Kane said 38 firearms that he’d inherited from his grandfather and father were taken, along with a few guns belonging to Scroggins.
The couple said their guns were never returned, even though Kane was never formally charged with illegal possession of firearms under federal law.
Dominguez said that during their search of the house, federal agents found meth, which they handed over to the sheriff’s office.
He said that his office subsequently charged Kane with possession of meth.
‘Get A Leash Around These Guys’
Ruland said the 2002 incident stemmed from high tensions at the time.
“It was right after the Twin Towers were taken down in New York City (in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks),” he said. “The whole country was on edge about weapons and things like that.”
The man and his wife were in the middle of a breakup, and she made allegations that he was making illegal weapons, Ruland said.
“I trusted my investigator. He said, ‘I don’t know about machine guns, we should call the ATF.’ And I said, ‘Sure, call them up,’” Ruland said.
As it turned out, the man’s ex-wife lied and no evidence was ever found of him making automatic weapons, he said.
“His ex was vindictive,” Ruland said. “She was mad at him and dimed him out.”
Once the man was cleared, the ATF agents cleared out and “left me with a mess,” he said.
There was an election coming up and, “I thought it would cost me re-election,” he said. “I was getting hammered with emails and phone calls.”
Even so, he was re-elected and served as sheriff until his retirement in 2005.
Ruland was president of the Western States Sheriffs Association and sometimes traveled to Washington, D.C., in that capacity.
He said he was in D.C. after the 2002 incident and complained to Wyoming’s then-U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi about the agency.
“I told him about that. I said, ‘Hey, you have to get a leash around these guys. You can’t have these guys coming into these counties, causing havoc and then leaving,’” he said.
As far as he can tell, especially seeing other examples like the 2023 raid, nothing ever came of that, Ruland said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
