Dukes said he had few doubts the jury would convict on the weapons charges, based on his research on the gun laws. He estimated Cox had about a 50-50 chance of being convicted of conspiracy to murder federal employees.

“[Cox] got the sticky end of the lollipop,” Dukes said.

Contact Fairbanks Daily News-Miner staff writer Sam Friedman at 907-459-7545. Follow him on Twitter, @FDNMcrime.

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Building a militia: Timeline of Schaeffer Cox

• Feb. 11, 1984: Cox was born Francis August Schaeffer Cox, and goes by Schaeffer Cox. Cox moved to Alaska from Colorado about the year 2000.

• May 2003: Cox received a high school diploma through the Nenana correspondence program CyberLynx. He briefly attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Instead of studying business, he decided to start one, he said in a later political campaign. He opened a construction and landscaping operation.

• August 2008: Cox challenged Representative Mike Kelly in the Republican primary for House District 7. Cox received 37 percent of the vote to Kelly’s 50 percent. Cox also led the Ron Paul presidential primary campaign in Alaska.

• February 2009: Cox started the Second Amendment Task Force, a gun rights group that held several meetings in 2009. About 150 people attended an initial meeting at Denny’s Restaurant. Larger meetings were held at Friends Community Church and the Carlson Center. Also beginning in February, Cox organized several open-carry days to protest gun control legislation in Washington. One open-carry day at Carl’s Jr. was attended by U.S. Representative Don Young.

• Later in 2009, Cox founded a group called the Alaska Peacemakers Militia. Cox said this group was created to check governmental power and create stability if the U.S. government collapsed. Cox said the Peacemakers Militia had 3,500 members, although it has never made a full list of members available because Cox said many members like to keep a low profile.

• March 5, 2010: Cox pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and is sentenced to two years probation for allegedly punching and choking his wife during a car ride to visit his mother-in-law in Anchorage. Cox said he only pushed her during the argument.

• March 17, 2010: Cox is arrested and charged with fifth-degree weapons misconduct for allegedly not informing a Fairbanks police officer that he, Cox, was carrying a concealed handgun. Cox was monitoring a police search of a residence as a member of the Liberty Bell Network, a group Cox organized. Members of the group send out mass notifications to other network members if they feel their rights are being violated. Network members are then supposed to show up with cameras to document the reported abuse of power. Police said they were responding to a 911 hang-up call at the house where Cox was subsequently arrested. His supporters say there was no 911 call.

• Jan. 16, 2011: A proceeding that Cox’s supporters consider a legally binding trial was held for Cox in a back room at Denny’s Restaurant. The group “acquitted” Cox of the March 2010 weapons misconduct and the March 2010 domestic violence charges. Cox considers himself a sovereign citizen and not subject to the laws of the nation.