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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Man Arrested at Trump Hotel Seeking Treatment in Georgia

A guest of the Trump International Hotel who was arrested on weapons charges agreed to seek psychiatric treatment as a term of pretrial release Friday.

WASHINGTON (CN) - A guest of the Trump International Hotel who was arrested on weapons charges agreed to seek psychiatric treatment as a term of pretrial release Friday.

Looking relaxed with black-rimmed glasses and a zippered hoodie in U.S. District Court this afternoon, 43-year-old physician Bryan Moles said he will be heading to Atlanta, Georgia, to stay with a friend pending the outcome of the case against him.

Moles was arrested on May 31 after police received a tip that the Pennsylvania veteran was heading to Washington "to get close to President Trump,” with "a car full of ammunition, survival supplies, batteries, and multiple cell phones," according to the affidavit in support of his arrest on Wednesday. 

In a voice message left with an acquaintance, Moles called himself "a refugee intent on bringing down big pharmacy and big-business medicine."

D.C. police searched the doctor’s car at the Trump International Hotel, finding an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, 30-round high-capacity magazines, and a Glock 23 semi-automatic pistol.

The affidavit quotes Moles as telling the officer and Secret Service agents who knocked on his hotel room door that he brought the guns to Washington so that a friend could customize them for his son.

Moles made his first appearance Thursday in D.C. Superior Court, where Judge Joseph Beshouri temporarily released him. 

Though mostly quiet and contemplative in federal court Friday, Moles also smiled and laughed as he talked with his defense attorney, assistant federal public defender Loui Itoh.

In addition to approving Itoh as the defendant’s court-appointed counsel, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather released Moles on the condition that he check in regularly with authorities in Georgia, and undergo a mental health evaluation and treatment.

Moles must also stay out of Washington, except for court appearances and legal appointments, and he cannot go near the White House or the Trump International Hotel when he is in town, the judge ordered.

Moles said he will seek mental health treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Atlanta.

According to the affidavit, Moles told law enforcement and Secret Service agents on Wednesday that he is a recovering alcoholic but has been sober since 2013.

The 14-year Navy veteran also reportedly said that he also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and self-medicates with marijuana.

Police found marijuana and a vaporizer smoking device in the suspect’s hotel bathroom after Moles alerted law enforcement officers that he had them. They also found a stack of cash in the hotel room safe.

"Moles stated that he had withdrawn around $10,000 in order to live the life he always wanted before it was too late," the affidavit says.

Moles told law enforcement that he has 20 guns in Pennsylvania, including AR-15s and AK-47s, adding that he once messed around with pipe bombs years ago.

The affidavit also references Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh several times, with Moles having allegedly told his acquaintance in the voicemail that his car looks like something McVeigh would drive on a camping trip.

Moles told police that he left $4.19 cents in his checking account because the number “was significant to him.”

As noted in the affidavit, McVeigh carried out the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.

Meriweather ordered Moles to surrender all his firearms, his passport and to cease doing any illegal drugs.

Several more details emerged about Moles on Friday during his second court appearance.

When Meriweather questioned the suspect about his assets, tyring to determine if he qualifies for a court-appointed attorney, Moles said he had been suspended from his job.

"There may be child support coming," he added, as he explained his monthly expenses.

According to his testimony, Moles has a wife and two children and owns a home in Pennsylvania.

Moles has been charged with the federal crime of unlawful possession of a firearm, as well as unlawful transportation of a firearm under a District of Columbia law.

If convicted, Moles faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the first charge, and up to a year and $2,500 for the second charge.

Moles is scheduled to appear in court again on June 22.

Categories / Criminal, Trials

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