'Saddle Gate' Arrests Kick Off Opening of the ATF Satellite Office in Southern Indiana

    LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- During a press
 conference today, Floyd County (Ind.) prosecutor Keith Henderson praised
 the contributions of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
 (ATF) special agents as he announced the arrest of three individuals --
 Gerald D. Weddle, 40, Cynthia K. Long, 37, and Tana S. Leasor, 26 -- who
 were responsible for a multiple-jurisdiction string of burglaries. The
 effort, dubbed "Saddle Gate," was a result of a seven-month investigation
 of the burglary ring, which allegedly was responsible for hundreds of
 burglaries and the theft of more than 51 horse saddles, multiple firearms,
 and other personal property valued in excess of $40,000.
 
     In addition, ATF Special Agent in Charge Paul J. Vido of the Louisville
 Field Division, along with Henderson and Floyd County sheriff Darrell
 Mills, jointly announced the establishment of the ATF Southern Indiana
 Satellite office, which is co-located with the Floyd County Sheriff's
 Office in the City-County Building, 311 Hauss Square, New Albany, Ind. The
 two ATF special agents assigned to the satellite office will cover eight
 counties (Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Scott, Switzerland
 and Washington) in southern Indiana.
 
     "The Louisville Field Division is grateful for Sheriff Mills' offer to
 secure work space at his department for the assigned ATF agents," said
 Vido. The two agents who live and work in southern Indiana will coordinate
 with state and local law enforcement agencies to share their anti-gun crime
 expertise, investigate violent crime by conducting firearms investigations,
 and to expand the tracing of recovered firearms in southern Indiana. The
 concerted effort is to remove armed career criminals, violent offenders,
 and drug traffickers from the local communities in southern Indiana.
 
     "For law enforcement to truly be effective, federal, state and local
 agencies must work cooperatively and share information. Establishing an
 office in southern Indiana is the realization of one of my primary goals
 since coming to Louisville in April 2006," said Vido.
 
     Investigator Wayne Kessinger of the Floyd County Prosecutor's Office
 said, "Having ATF right at my fingertips was the leverage we needed to
 solve these previously unsolved burglaries and recover these stolen
 firearms."
 
     More information on ATF and its programs is at www.atf.gov.
 
     Contact: ATF PIO Craig W. Roegner
     Office:  (502) 753-3556
     Cell:    (502) 773-2614
     Email:   LouisDiv@atf.gov
 
 
 
 

SOURCE Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives