The co-founder of a violent, defunct neo-Nazi sect who plotted with his girlfriend to destroy a city’s power grid has been sentenced to decades in prison. Brandon Clint Russell, 30, of Florida, was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after he schemed to destroy the electrical infrastructure of Baltimore. He was found guilty of conspiracy to destroy an energy facility by a jury in February, after entering a not guilty plea. He had been indicted in February 2023 along with a woman identified in documents as his girlfriend, Sarah Beth Clendaniel. Clendaniel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to destroy an energy facility and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. She was sentenced in September of 2024 to 18 years in prison for the conspiracy charge and 15 years on the firearm charge. Those sentences will run concurrently, and, upon release, she will be subject to supervised release for life. An additional count of conspiracy to destroy an energy facility was dismissed upon Clendaniel’s guilty plea. Sentencing documents for Russell described him as “a clear and present threat to all who reside in the United States.” Indicted ‘Terrorgram’ neo-Nazi cited Randolph County substation attack, court documents show; ‘This avenue of attack … has really caught on’ “This is not hyperbole,” the document states bluntly. “His ideology, and, more importantly, his actions reflect a willingness to harm those who do not look like him or share his viewpoint. He seeks to destroy the very fabric of society. As his conduct before and after the conviction demonstrates, there is nothing that will stop him.”
siehe auch; Neo-Nazi leader sentenced to 20 years for plot to attack Maryland’s power grid Brandon Russell, founder of neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, was convicted of plotting to blow up Baltimore power grid. The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs. Brandon Russell, 30, was convicted by a jury earlier this year. Prosecutors presented evidence detailing his longstanding affiliation with white supremacist causes and his recent efforts to organize “sniper attacks” on electrical substations around Baltimore. During a sentencing hearing Thursday afternoon in federal court in Baltimore, US district judge James Bredar excoriated the defendant for his reprehensible views, saying Russell was clearly the brains behind the operation, which sought to precipitate societal collapse by targeting the energy infrastructure of a majority-Black city. In the aftermath of the planned attacks, Russell and his co-defendant, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, intended to “create their own bizarre utopia populated by people who only look and think like they do”, Bredar said. “Well, that’s not how it works,” the judge continued. “The law doesn’t permit that. We don’t change course in this country via violent overthrow.” Bredar imposed the maximum sentence allowed for Russell’s conviction of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. The judge also ordered a lifetime of supervised release, including close monitoring of Russell’s electronic devices. Bredar previously sentenced Clendaniel to 18 years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to her role in the plot. He said Russell should receive a longer sentence because he was more culpable and contributed the “intellectual horsepower” that propelled the plot closer to fruition.