GULFPORT -- The Coast men accused of stealing anti-tank rounds from a Camp Shelby firing range drove through cut barbed-wire to enter the “extremely dangerous” area, and later split a $3,000 check for the sale of scrap metal to an Alabama recycling company, a federal agent said Monday.

The check was written to Lance Looney, who had lived on Saucier Lane in Gulfport since November, about two months before an explosion there alerted authorities to the presence of military munitions, according to testimony in U.S. District Court.

Looney, 25, was denied bond Monday after hearings on his alleged involvement.

Looney is the fourth man arrested by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives since the explosion of Jan. 19.

An ATF agent, who works undercover, gave new details of the investigation Monday in questioning before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Roper.

The agent told Assistant U.S. Attorney Annette Williams that Looney had refused to cooperate before his arrest Friday, but has since admitted he cashed the check and split it with those who helped collect the projectiles.

Looney admitted he has made three or four trips to Camp Shelby, the agent said.

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