Source: UPDATE: Texas man facing Tewksbury weapons charges said he was on classified government mission
Francho Bradley, of 4378 Ballymena Lane, Frisco, Texas, called police Sunday about 3:47 p.m. to report he believed someone was trying to break into his room at the Marriott Residence Inn, 1775 Andover St., according to Tewksbury police.
A police report says Bradley had a surveillance video feed of his hotel room in his car, and was concerned because the video feed died as he was driving toward Boston.
But when Tewksbury police entered Bradley’s room, they found far more than just one gun.
Officers immediately noticed several rifles sticking out of a green flight suit that had been wrapped around them and laid on the room’s floor, according to a police report. There were no signs of a break in, according to police.
Bradley and his common law wife, Adrianne Jennings, 40, of 8247 Brightside Lane, Frisco, Texas, were both detained when they returned to the hotel. Bradley has an active firearms license from Texas, but it is not valid in Massachusetts, according to police.
Police obtained a search warrant for the room and Bradley’s vehicle, and ended up finding eight large-capacity guns, including an AK-47, and an AR-15 that was equipped with a bump stock, a grenade launcher, and a silencer, according to a police report.
Officers also found 19 large-capacity magazines for various guns, dozens of rounds of ammunition, laptop computers, cell phones, walkie talkies, tactical vests, and smoke grenades among other items, according to a police report.
“It should be noted that five of the high capacity magazines were affixed to each other by a homemade case. This was concerning because it allows an individual to shoot off all five magazines in a short amount of time,” police wrote in a report.
When interviewed by police, Bradley said he brought the weapons with him from Texas because he “needed them with him for his mission.”
“Francho went on to say he can’t tell us what he does for work or why he has all the guns with him, but that he is down in this area working for a government agency that is dealing with a virus,” police wrote in a report.
Bradley declined to name the agency or say more because he said the information was classified, according to a police report. Bradley told officers there was no one they could call to verify the information, according to a police report.
At one point Bradley told police he owns Ensyme Engineering, but did not want to comment on what the company does.
Normandin said the weapons and accessories were “props” that Bradley uses while conducting that business.
Normandin said the gun accessories found by police are not actually functional, though he said he was not immediately sure if the guns themselves were functional.
The website for Enysma Engineering says the company strives “to help business owners develop a solid foundation and operational strategy so they can be successful.”
While the website touts products such as walkie talkies and headsets, it makes no mention of guns or firearm accessories.
Bradley told officers he worked for Los Angeles Police for about five years around 1984, but Los Angeles police told Tewksbury officers they could not immediately confirm whether Bradley ever worked there, according to a police report.
Bradley also claimed to have played “prominent roles” in the Obama campaign and German government, “and single handedly saved a one star general who was kidnapped a few years ago,” according to a police report.
When Tewksbury police checked with police in Frisco, Texas to see if they had interacted with Bradley or Jennings, they learned Bradley reported his wife missing in 2013 and told police she was a psych patient with mental issues, according to a police report.
Jennings told police her husband was here for a job interview. She told police her husband brought the guns with him “in case he gets deployed,” but told police she couldn’t speak about what he does for work, according to a police report.
At arraignment Monday, Thomas Combs, who represented Jennings, said Jennings did not own or have control of any of the weapons and accessories which belong to Bradley. Combs said Jennings was merely along for the trip with her husband.
Bradley and Jennings are both charged with 8 counts of possession of a large-capacity firearm, 19 counts of possession of a large capacity feeding device, 8 counts of improper storage of a firearm, three counts of possession of an infernal machine, three counts of possession of a silencer, and one count each of possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a license, and possession of a bump stock.
Judge Ellen Caulo ordered both held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday.
In one paragraph of the police report, officers noted Bradley got parking tickets in the same part of Cambridge on successive days, even though he claimed to have no ties to the city. That made officers suspect he may have been conducting surveillance, according to a police report, which also notes that the March for Our Lives was held in Boston this weekend.
Meghan Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, said a focus of the ongoing investigation into the couple is examining why they were here and what their intent was.
“We are working closely with our state and federal partners on this investigation and will leave no stone unturned,” Tewksbury police Chief Timothy Sheehan said. “We have a lot of work left to do here.”