Two members of a Georgia militia arrested in a disrupted plot to kill government officials last year were each sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to conspiring to obtain an unregistered explosive device and silencer.
Frederick Thomas, a 73-year-old from Cleveland, Ga., and 68-year-old Dan Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., were each sentenced to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Both were members of fringe militia organization they referred to as a “covert group.” Federal authorities arrested them in November 2011 for allegedly plotting to attack U.S. citizens and federal employees using the biological toxin ricin. Their alleged targets included Attorney General Eric Holder and former Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
One reason the feds might have chosen not to pursue further charges: Joe Sims, the FBI’s confidential informant in the case wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen. Sims was accused of molesting his step children and failed a polygraph test after claiming to know about a plot to blow up buildings in Atlanta, according to a story in Esquire earlier this year.
Facebook
Twitter