One of ATF’s ‘most wanted’ arrested in Montana after 8 years on the run

U.S. marshals arrested an Iowa man on the run for nearly eight years last week on a remote Montana ranch, USA Today reports. 

Michael Duane Strain, 62, was one of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’s (ATF) most wanted fugitives. The department said he’d been evading the law since 2011 after being indicted with two counts of possessing a firearm.

{mosads}Strain labels himself a sovereign citizen, and therefore claims he doesn’t have to answer to government authorities. Court documents say Strain told authorities they had no jurisdiction over him when he was taken into custody, USA Today reports.

Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Timothy Hornung told USA Today that deputies were tipped by a telephone call leading them to the Crow Reservation in Montana. Strain had reportedly lived on the property for years. 

Strain had previous convictions for flight from law enforcement and possession of an explosive device, according to the ATF. The federal agency said Strain should be considered armed and dangerous. 

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan ordered Strain return to Iowa and face charges, USA Today reports.