Trial begins for contractor who had weapons stash at MacDill

The civilian who headed the office in charge of military housing at MacDill Air Force Base said she was "sick to my stomach" when she learned she had allowed an intelligence contractor to live on base without authorization.

The contractor, Scott Allan Bennett, an Army reservist, is standing trial on federal, criminal charges he misrepresented his way into base housing, wore his uniform without permission and held a weapons stash he was not authorized to have.

Authorities say Bennett lied to housing officials, claiming to be an aid to Adm. Eric Olson, when he obtained the housing in January 2011. Bennett was not on active duty at the time, and appeared at the housing office wearing his uniform, claiming to have orders from Olson to immediately obtain housing, testified Amanda Weeks, who headed the housing office when Bennett applied.

Weeks said it was not unusual for the office to give leeway to generals and other high-ranking military officials and their staff when it came to not having the proper paperwork for housing. So she said housing officials gave Bennett housing, even though he had not produced the order from Olson.

Bennett was stopped at the base gate in the early morning hours of April 23, 2010, and arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol, according to court papers. Investigators found a gun in his pocket and another in his car. A later search found eight more firearms in his apartment and 9,000 rounds of ammunition.

Base housing rules prohibit weapons in housing unless they are registered with security. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney told jurors Bennett's weapons were not registered.

Defense attorney David Chalela told jurors that all the prosecution witnesses in the trial will be either government employees or work for government contractors. They all depend on pleasing the government to keep their jobs, he said.

The government, he said, is dealing with the embarrassment of the case hitting the newspapers by blaming the lowest-ranking person involved – Bennett. Base officials were supposed to verify that Bennett had orders. "They didn't do their job," Chalela said. "They didn't verify the orders, and they could lose their job."

The weapons Bennett had were all lawful, Chalela said, and Bennett paid more than $1,200 a month for his apartment.

Weeks testified that after the incident with Bennett came to light, she changed procedures, requiring every application to be processed by-the-book, with no exceptions for anyone who misplaced their paperwork. People without the proper paperwork now have to stay in their car or a hotel or make other arrangements until everything is verified, she said.

With Bennett, she said, she made "a judgment call based on a very convincing lie." She said she was sick when she realized what happened. "I was worried about what he could have done. … He had some very scary weapons in his home."

She testified the bomb squad evacuated his building and another building. But under defense questioning, she insisted, "I was never worried about my job."

Since the incident, Bennett has twice tried to gain unauthorized access to government property, according to prosecution pleadings.

In April, he tried to gain entry to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, in Arlington, Va., while in a police uniform. And last month, he crashed a closed event at the Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C., while wearing his military uniform without authorization, the prosecution contends.

U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has reserved judgment on whether the prosecution may tell jurors about these incidents. The judge also is considering whether to allow the prosecution to present evidence related to a 2006 incident in which he subsequently pleaded guilty to lying to help a South African woman gain entry to the U.S.

According to government pleadings, Bennett was having an Internet relationship with the woman, and wrote to immigration authorities on her behalf, lying that she was needed for an internship related to work for the White House.