Navy Veteran Pleads Guilty to Federal Weapons Charges in Neo-Nazi Plot

A Marine veteran, the last of five men in a neo-Nazi group charged with allegations of planning attacks on the U.S. power grid and threatening to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters, has pleaded guilty to a federal charge relating to to firearms.

Jordan Duncan, 29, of Boise, Idaho, also known as “Soldier” to his co-defendants, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Wilmington, North Carolina, near his former duty station Camp Lejeune , for aid and encouragement in manufacturing. of a firearm, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

This crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for September 24, according to court documents.

Raymond Tarlton, one of Duncan's defense attorneys, said in an email to the Marine Corps Times on Wednesday: “The defense is pleased that the case was resolved with a plea to an isolated charge of aiding another in manufacturing a rifle and that the charge relating to an allegation of participation in a plot to attack the power grid, which Mr. Duncan denies was true, was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Duncan served in the Marine Corps from 2013 to 2018, according to court documents. He later worked as a contractor for the Air Force and Navy.

A grand jury indicted Duncan and fellow Marines Liam Collins, 25, and Justin Hermanson, 25, former New Jersey National Guard member Joseph Maurino, 25, and Paul Kryscuk, 38, on charges of charges related to a plot to attack the U.S. power grid. and shooting Black Lives Matter protesters.

Collins, leader of the neo-Nazi group, served in the same unit as Duncan and Hermanson, according to court documents. Collins served in the Marines from 2017 until 2020, when he was discharged. The nature of his release is not indicated in court documents.

Collins, from Johnston, Rhode Island, joined the Marine Corps with the intention of receiving military training to further his white supremacist goals.

He posted on the now-defunct Internet forum Iron March under the pseudonyms “Disciple” and “Niezgoda,” and described his neo-Nazi group as “a modern-day SS” that marched, camped, trained and conducted live fire training together. , according to the indictment. Collins also said the group planned to “purchase a lot of land” and indicated that all members of the group were expected to complete military service.

“I will be in the USMC for 4 years while my comrades work on the groups [sic] physical training,” Collins published in 2016, the Marine Corps Times previously reported. “It will take years to gather all the experience and intelligence we need, but that’s what makes the game fun.”

Duncan joined Collin's neo-Nazi group while at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, then moved to Idaho after separating from the Marines, according to the indictment. Duncan and Collins discussed the shooting of Black Lives Matter protesters in Boise, Idaho, around this time. A few weeks later, FBI agents informed two Black Lives Matter co-founders that their names were on a list maintained by another member of a paramilitary group, the Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors said the four men researched and discussed a previous attack on a power grid by an unknown group that used assault rifles to try to blow up an electrical substation, according to court documents .

Duncan was specifically accused of amassing a “library of information” to pursue attacks both while he served in the Marines and during his work as a military contractor. He modified a rifle so that the barrel was less than 16 inches, a violation of gun law unless the owner had the appropriate federal permits and licenses.

Between 2017 and 2020, Kryscuk manufactured firearms for Collins, who stole military equipment, including magazines for assault rifles, while stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During this period, Duncan collected information not only about firearms, but also explosives and nerve toxins, which he then shared with Collins and Kryscuk, according to court documents.

In mid-2020, Collins asked others to buy 50 pounds of explosive, the Associated Press reported. In October 2020, authorities confiscated from Kryscuk a handwritten list of approximately a dozen intersections and locations in Idaho and neighboring states, including the locations of transformers, substations or other components of the power grid in the northwest United States.

At a December 2020 hearing, prosecutors played a 90-second recruitment showing Duncan firing shots, participating in military-style drills and making “Heil Hitler” salutes with three other members while wearing masks skulls associated with a neo-Nazi group called the Atomwaffen Division. , according to the indictment.

All five co-defendants have now pleaded guilty to gun-related charges. Collins, Hermanson and Kryscuk are scheduled to appear in court on July 23. Maurino's sentencing continued until further order of the court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.