Man gets 13 years for gun, drugs crimes

A former Coast Guard lieutenant who described himself as a white nationalist was sentenced Friday to more than 13 years in prison after pleading guilty last year to federal gun and drug charges.

The former lieutenant, Christopher Paul Hasson, had plotted to kill journalists, Democratic politicians, professors, Supreme Court justices and those he called “leftists in general,” federal prosecutors said in a previous court filing.

He was arrested in Maryland last February and pleaded guilty in October to four federal charges, including: unlawful possession of unregistered silencers, unlawful possession of firearm silencers unidentified by serial number, possession of firearms by an addict to and unlawful user of a controlled substance, and possession of a controlled substance.

Judge George J. Hazel of United States District Court in Maryland sentenced Mr. Hasson, 50, to 160 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release.

Federal prosecutors had asked that Mr. Hasson be sentenced to 25 years in prison. In a court filing, they said that Mr. Hasson was inspired by racist murderers, stockpiled assault weapons, studied violence and intended to “exact retribution on minorities and those he considered traitors.”

Prosecutors said Mr. Hasson had identified as a white nationalist for more than 30 years and had, in writing, advocated “focused violence” in order to establish a white homeland.