2 of 3 defendants in tunnel gun cache case to avoid trial

Two of three Pennsylvania residents arrested last summer outside the Holland Tunnel in a pickup truck with a cache of weapons have struck a deal to avoid trial.
Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Tom Zuppa said Wednesday that Dean Smith and Kimberly Arendt have been accepted into a pretrial intervention program that could lead to charges being dropped.
The third defendant, John Cramsey, is an anti-drug activist whose daughter died of a drug overdose last year. He told authorities he was headed to New York to rescue a teenager from a drug den.
He has already rejected a plea deal.
In audio played Wednesday, Smith told investigators that during the trip to New York Cramsey told Arendt to load a shotgun and shoot anybody that followed them on their way back.
Smith called Cramsey "a menace to society” in the recording and told investigators he considered Cramsey "a danger to himself and others."
A judge is considering whether to allow the statement if the case goes to trial.
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.