Man released after pleading guilty to firearms charge

COEUR d’ALENE — A Coeur d’Alene man who was convicted of a felony two years ago for keeping three hand grenades in his basement was released by a Coeur d’Alene judge last week after pleading guilty to an unrelated charge of possessing an illegal firearm.

Raymond Ruprecht, 35, a former military weapons specialist who said he served 12 years in the armed forces, pleaded guilty to having an illegal firearm after being indicted last summer by a grand jury.

First District Judge Lansing Haynes last week sentenced Ruprecht to a fixed two years in prison, and three additional years to be used at the discretion of the Department of Correction, for a total five-year sentence.

The sentence was the same as Haynes ordered for Ruprecht’s previous convictions, including a felony bomb possession — the grenades he said he procured during his military service — and felony burglary.

Haynes had withheld judgment two years ago on the grenade and burglary charges, allowing the convictions to be expunged if Ruprecht followed the rules of probation.

He imposed those sentences last week as part of the latest conviction. All the sentences will run concurrently, meaning Ruprecht could serve a maximum five years behind bars.

Haynes, however, at last week’s hearing ordered all the sentences to be suspended and ordered Ruprecht to be placed on unsupervised probation.

Prosecutors wanted the judge to retain jurisdiction arguing Ruprecht should attend a prison rehabilitation program, but Ruprecht’s defense attorney urged leniency.

Ruprecht is a student at North Idaho College, a stay-at-home father and regularly attends counseling at the Veterans Administration for post-traumatic stress disorder, deputy public defender Zach Jones told the court.

When Ruprecht was arrested on the latest charge, prosecutors asked for his bond to be set at $100,000, but Haynes released Ruprecht on his own recognizance.

Ruprecht told the court he received the Savage rifle he was accused of having illegally, as a gift, and attempted to pawn it as soon as he realized he had broken the law.

“I had control of the weapon about a minute,” Ruprecht told the court.

Two years ago a Spokane bomb squad knocked on the door of Ruprecht’s home in Post Falls after receiving a tip of grenades in the house.

Post Falls Police Detective Neil Uhrig said police evacuated the home and the grenades were located in a safe place.

“He had them in a place where it would be difficult to have access to them, but I still would not feel comfortable with them being in my house,” Uhrig said.

A unit from Fairchild Air Force Base seized the grenades because they belonged to the federal government, police said.