Montana man pleads guilty to having guns he bragged were 'taken from bunker'

A man who told a government informant he stolen weapons from a bunker years ago pleaded guilty this week to illegal possession of a machine gun, short barreled rifle, silencer, and grenade. Bruce Boone Wann, 61, of Kila, Montana, entered his plea on Monday in a Missoula federal court to a range of weapon charges.

According to court documents, in June, Wann kept or buried guns and explosives on several properties in Flathead County while he moved out of his home, including some left at a storage facility and the house of what turned out to be a confidential informant. At some point, Wann broke into the informant’s home and not only repossessed his items but guns that did not belong to him, leading to a confrontation between the two that later evolved into a federal investigation complete with undercover recordings.

Ultimately seized from Wann was an improvised hand grenade along with an assortment of fuses, grenade bodies, and other explosives components. Also impounded by agents was an Argentine 1909 Mauser .308 rifle and a Ruger .22 pistol — both with suppressed barrels devoid of markings or serial numbers — as well as a Ruger 10/22 rifle with a barrel that had been shortened less than 16-inches, three stolen firearms, and an RPB Industries M10 MAC-style .45ACP pistol that was capable of full-auto fire. Wann told the CI that he had obtained some of the items from a “government bunker in California” many years before.

A Montana grand jury in October handed down an eight-count indictment on Wann ranging from distribution of explosive materials to illegal possession of a machinegun, unregistered silencers, firearms with obliterated serial numbers, possession of a stolen firearm, and having an unregistered short-barreled rifle and destructive device. He ultimately entered a guilty plea on four of the weapons charges this week while the other four were dismissed.

Facing a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release, Wann is set for sentencing next April.