Two inmates indicted on federal gun charges
Polk County Enterprise - November 2008
LIVINGSTON — A pair of Polk County jail inmates were transferred into the custody of U.S. Marshals Thursday night after they were indicted on federal weapons charges. David Jason Michels, 26, and Steven Walter Cook, 45, were arrested Oct. 16 at the Seven Oaks Motel by the Polk County Sheriff’s Offi ce after witnesses reported suspicious activity. When deputies arrived at the Seven Oaks Motel, they found that two rooms had been rented to David Michels, 26. A check of criminal records showed an outstanding felony warrant issued by Montgomery County for aggravated assault against a public servant. Deputies went to rooms 10 and 14 and arrested Michels for the outstanding warrant. Offi cers then obtained consent to search for the motel rooms and two vehicles being driven by the suspects. During this initial search, deputies found narcotics and illegal weapons. A search warrant was also issued for the motel rooms and vehicles and deputies discovered several weapons, methamphetamines and writings that link the four suspects to a wellknown gang, the Aryan Brotherhood. A g e n t s from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms fi led federal weapons charges in connection with the weapons that were seized by Polk County offi - cers. A federal grand jury later indicted Michels and Cook. During the time that the two men were in custody at the Polk County jail, security measures were heightened due to the pair’s gang affi liation. Two women who were also arrested at the motel, Velora Lynn Pagan, 30, and Sherri Lynn Day, 42, remain in the Polk County Jail for possession of a controlled substance. Day faces an additional charge of prohibited substance in a correctional facility.