Teen's Father Released on $100,000 Bond

Michael Kennedy's family and friends have said the young man had a history of psychological problems.

The eight-count indictment charges Brian Kennedy with possessing 20 guns and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition.

Prosecutors said he was prohibited from having the guns because federal agents determined that he is a drug user. When Kennedy bought the AK-47, he lied on the federally mandated paperwork when asked whether he used marijuana, the indictment said.

Kennedy has no criminal record, and legal experts said it is unusual to charge someone with illegal weapons possession for being a drug user when that person has no drug convictions. But it does happen, and experts said it is allowable under federal statutes.

"You can be a person prohibited from owning a firearm for any number of reasons, one of which is being a convicted felon and another of which is being a drug user," said Robert A. Spencer, former chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alexandria, which is prosecuting Kennedy.

At yesterday's hearing, prosecutors did not object to Kennedy's release but insisted that his brother be named his custodian.

"Because of the allegations of drug use by the defendant at his home," said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Trump, "it would give some assurance to the court that such drug use is not taking place at [his brother's] home."

Kennedy's wife declined to comment outside court yesterday, and the driveway to his brother's white-brick Colonial in Falls Church was chained shut, with two no-trespassing signs flanking the gate.

A neighbor, who spoke on condition that her name not be used because of the nature of the charges, said the Kennedys are "a very nice family. I'm sure they're crushed by what happened."

Staff writers Paul Duggan, Ian Shapira and Daniela Deane contributed to this report.