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Valrico doomsday prepper pleads guilty to federal charges

 
Published Aug. 28, 2014

TAMPA — Doomsday prepper Martin Winters pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to making and possessing unregistered destructive devices.

Winters, 55, of Valrico, was the subject of a June manhunt in eastern Hillsborough County before he surrendered at an FBI field office on June 18.

He led a group called the River Otter Preppers, which advocated survival preparations in advance of an end-times event foretold in the Bible's Book of Revelation, court records state. An undercover FBI agent reported that Winters talked of buried guns, booby traps and his plans to kill government agents if they raided his property.

Each charge carries a prison term of up to 10 years. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. As part of a plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office dropped two other charges.