Jon Bartlett was already in state custody, having been convicted and sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison for making a bomb threat to his former police station during a night of drinking on December 1, 2005, while he was suspended from the police force during the investigation into this matter. Also while this matter was pending, Jon Bartlett was charged in federal court with falsely stating that he was not currently facing felony charges in an effort to obtain a submachine gun, a handgun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.