Rockefeller son pleads guilty to machine gun charge in federal case

LITTLE ROCK — After legal wrangling over his mental state, the 25-year-old son of Arkansas’ late Lt. Gov. Winthrop Paul Rockefeller pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to one count of transfer of a machine gun.

Louis Henry Rockefeller entered the plea after a hearing requested by his attorneys to withdraw a recently granted motion for a mental competency evaluation filed over concerns that Rockefeller’s drug use, which had resulted in his bond being revoked, rendered him unable to proceed.

Rockefeller was indicted Dec. 1 by a federal grand jury on seven counts of transfer of a machine gun.

A co-defendant, Noah Michael Millea, 20, of Benton, was indicted on two counts of transfer of a machine gun. A superseding indictment handed up Aug. 3 charged Rockefeller with an additional count of possession of machine guns and Millea with an additional count of making a false statement to acquire firearms.

U. S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky had granted the motion for a competency evaluation on Oct. 15, a day after Rockefeller’s bond was revoked by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe. Volpe had ordered Rockefeller taken into custody at an Oct. 14 hearing over allegations of repeated pretrial release violations.

Rockefeller’s arrest and subsequent indictment stemmed from a five-month investigation by federal authorities that was kicked off by the arrest of a drug suspect in Little Rock. That suspect, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon, was found in possession of a Glock 9mm pistol converted to automatic fire that he told police he purchased from Rockefeller for $600 and a small amount of heroin.

Gordon told Rudofsky that the suspect-turned-informant said Rockefeller manufactured conversion kits for Glock pistols and AR-15 rifles on a 3D printer that would allow the weapons to fire continuously with a single trigger pull. The parts used for the conversion, Gordon said, are known by police as “Glock switches” for the Glock pistols and “drop-in auto sears” for AR-15 rifles.

“The [informant] did see at least five AR-15-type rifles on the kitchen table inside Mr. Rockefeller’s apartment, as well as various other gun parts, drop- in auto sears, Glock switches and a 3D printed ‘ghost gun,’” Gordon said.

With the help of the informant, Gordon said federal officers arranged to purchase a converted Glock 9mm pistol from Rockefeller for $800 in August 2020 and, subsequently, a converted AR-15 rifle for $1,650.

Between Aug. 7 and Oct. 29, 2020, Gordon said Rockefeller sold two Glock switches and nine drop-in auto sears to an undercover officer in six separate transactions.

When Rockefeller was arrested Dec. 10, Gordon said officers found a drop-in auto sear in his pocket and two more inside his apartment.

Immediately following Rockefeller’s October bond revocation, his attorneys requested a competency evaluation, which Rudofsky granted that same day. The judge ordered Rockefeller to be transferred to a Bureau of Prisons facility where the evaluation would be performed. The process would have taken a month or more.

However, just six days later, Rockefeller’s attorneys asked

Rudofsky to rescind the order following a meeting the previous day with their client where they found him “competent to assist in his defense, to understand the consequences of his decisions, and to fully understand” a plea agreement offered by the government, according to the motion.

At the outset of the hearing Monday, Rudofsky told attorneys that he had never dealt with a situation where a defendant’s legal counsel had requested a mental evaluation for a defendant and then requested to cancel it.

“I’m concerned about that because I want to make sure we are proceeding constitutionally and giving this defendant all of the rights to which he is afforded,” Rudofsky said.

Blake Hendrix, one of Rockefeller’s attorneys, explained that, as the defense team worked with Rockefeller to explain the details of a plea agreement offered by the government, it became apparent that Rockefeller “didn’t have the capacity to fully appreciate what was going on … and a good, solid understanding of his plea agreement.”

Hendrix said conversations with Rockefeller’s family and with Kristin Agar, a Little Rock-based clinical psychotherapist, revealed the same concerns as the attorneys.

“Can you give me a little bit more meat on the bones as sort of what gave you, the family … and the psychotherapist concern?” Rudofsky asked.

“Inability to focus, inability to stand still long enough to understand,” Hendrix said. “What then happens is we wind up with a positive [drug] screen for stimulants. … We’re not able to pin him down long enough to make sure he has a solid understanding of what is happening.”

A week following his revocation, Hendrix said he and another defense attorney met with Rockefeller at the Pulaski County jail, where they found him able to follow and understand developments in his case. Last Friday, he said, an interview was arranged via Zoom between Rockefeller — who by then had been transferred to a penal farm in Tennessee — and Agar, who testified Monday that she had met with him several times the week following his bond revocation and again last week.

“He was anxious, depressed, not very realistic,” Agar said of Rockefeller’s demeanor shortly after his bond was revoked.

When she met with him again on Friday and before the hearing, Agar testified he was much improved, “able to understand and appreciate the consequences of his decisions.”

After satisfying Rudofsky’s concerns, the judge ruled Rockefeller competent to proceed and, following a short recess, began the plea hearing.

Rockefeller, who had appeared relaxed and cheerful through much of the hearing, grew serious as Rudofsky took his plea.

“How do you plead to Count 4 of the superseding indictment?” Rudofsky asked.

“Guilty, your honor,” Rockefeller replied.

“Is that because you are, in fact, guilty of the charge?” the judge asked.

“Yes sir,” Rockefeller said. The maximum sentence he could face would be 10 years in prison, two years supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Rudofsky said a sentencing hearing will be set following completion of a presentence investigation and report by the U.S. Probation Office.

Millea is scheduled for a change of plea hearing at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 19.