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Doomsday prepper investigation brings charge against Lithia mom

 
Published Oct. 21, 2014

TAMPA — A Lithia mother tapped the identities of three daughters while falsifying paperwork to obtain weapons for doomsday prepper Martin Winters, federal court records state.

Ellie Elizabeth Saldana, 42, admits in a plea agreement filed Monday that she was the straw buyer in 2011 for multiple semi-automatic AR-15-type rifle purchases funded by Winters.

Federal authorities call Winters leader of the River Otter Preppers, a group that advocates preparation for an end-times event foretold in the Bible's Book of Revelation. He discussed plans to kill law enforcement agents, the government alleged, and later pleaded guilty to creating and possessing unregistered destructive devices.

Saldana bought 20 rifles in a single month. Four times, on federal firearms forms, she answered "yes" when asked if she was the actual buyer, the agreement states, and three times she used her daughters' information.

She knew she was acquiring the firearms for Winters, who had previously paid the dealer, the agreement states.

Saldana faces up to five years in prison. Winters and five others with ties to the investigation are scheduled to be sentenced in the next two months.