Patrik Mathews, a former Manitoba army reservist and an alleged recruiter for a neo-Nazi group, entered a guilty plea in a U.S. court Thursday for weapons charges, destroying evidence and obstruction of justice. He is set to be sentenced for his crimes in October. Patrik Mathews — a former Manitoba army reservist and an alleged recruiter for a neo-Nazi group — has changed his plea to guilty in a number of different charges in the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware. The 28-year-old appeared before U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang on Thursday to enter his plea as part of an agreement, and his attorney detailed his work with the white supremacist group The Base and his alleged crimes. Chuang asked, “Did you do the things the government said you did?” Mathews hesitated, then responded, “Yes, your honour.” Mathews quietly uttered “guilty” when asked how he pleaded to the charges of possessing a firearm while in the country illegally, illegal possession of a machine gun, possession of an unregistered machine gun and destroying a cell phone that was a part of a federal investigation. Lengthy prison sentences possible He faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the first three charges, as well as up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine for destroying the cell phone evidence. “Today’s admission of guilt shows how far [Mathews] was willing to go to support extremist activity,” said Rachel Byrd of the FBI in a news release issued by the U.S. Justice Department. (…) He is accused of acting as a recruiter for The Base while he was in Manitoba, before crossing into the U.S. in 2019. Prosecutors allege in court documents that Mathews videotaped himself advocating for killing people, poisoning water supplies and derailing trains to incite a civil war in the name of creating a white “ethno-state.”
via cbc.ca: Accused neo-Nazi Patrik Mathews pleads guilty to weapons charges, destroying evidence
siehe auch: UPDATE: Nazi group members planning violence at Richmond gun rally plead guilty to federal charges. Two neo-Nazi group members whose talk of planning an attack at a Virginia gun rights rally was secretly recorded by the FBI pleaded guilty on Thursday to gun charges. Former Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews, U.S. Army veteran Brian Mark Lemley Jr. and a third member of The Base were arrested on federal charges in Maryland ahead of the January 2020 rally at Virginia’s Capitol in Richmond. Mathews, 28, and Lemley, 35, pleaded guilty at separate hearings to charges including illegally transporting a firearm and obstruction of justice — they destroyed cellphones when FBI agents raided their apartment. The third co-defendant, William Garfield Bilbrough IV, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty in December to helping Mathews illegally enter the U.S. from Canada in 2019. After a prosecutor read aloud a summary of the case against them, the judge asked them the same question: “Did you do the things the government said you did?” Mathews and Lemley both replied that they did. Mathews pleaded guilty to four counts that carry a combined total of 50 years in prison. Lemley pleaded guilty to seven counts punishable by a maximum of 70 years. However, in both cases, federal sentencing guidelines likely will recommend a prison sentence that is significantly lower than the statutory maximum. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, who isn’t bound by the guidelines, is scheduled to sentence Mathews and Lemley on Oct. 28.