Final 2 men plead guilty to their part in neo-Nazi murder plot
Two more men pleaded guilty for their part in a murder plot to attack people they deemed enemies of their white supremacist group in late 2019 and early 2020.
Luke Lane, 23, of Silver Creek and Jacob Kaderli, 21, of Dacula, both pleaded guilty to their roles in the plot.
Floyd County Superior Court Judge John “Jack” Niedrach sentenced Lane to 30 years to serve 13 in prison on conspiracy to commit murder and participation in gang activity charges. The judge sentenced Kaderli to 25 years to serve six in prison under the First Offender Act with the stipulation if he completes 10 years of probation the remainder of the sentence will be commuted.
Both men have served nearly two years in jail and were given credit for that time served.
Lane, Kaderli and 27-year-old Michael Helterbrand of Dalton were arrested in January 2020, accused of conspiring to kill a Bartow County couple that participated in antifascist demonstrations, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.
The men were members of a white supremacist group called the Base. That group is, or was, a primarily online collective of neoNazis who sought to destabilize the government through acts of violence.
As part of the group, Lane was vetted to bring in new members by the elusive leader of the group Russian-based American expatriate, Ronaldo Nizzaro, Assistant District Attorney Emily Johnson said.
“Luke Lane brought the Base to Floyd County,” Johnson told the court.
The group was founded in July 2018 to organize and recruit racists for a “violent insurgency” against the United States government as well as non-white groups.
Conversations on a members-only encrypted messenger application describe plans of mounting a terrorist campaign that asked members to form threeman “Trouble Trio” cells.
Helterbrand, the third of the local Base chapter’s trio, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with a like amount on probation as part of a guilty plea on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to all charges associated with the case as well as other concerning weapons, damage to property, and a fight and sexual assault while at the Floyd County Jail.
Since a series of arrests in early 2020 locally and in other parts of the country, the online presence of the Base has almost disappeared. An Anti-Defamation League researcher said earlier that members of shattered groups often resurface among other white supremacist gangs.
Attorneys for both men emphasized that both men took responsibility for their actions regarding the plot.
“We’re all grateful that none of us are here today because two innocent people are dead,” Lane’s attorney Emily Matson said. She described Lane as a person who didn’t have a lot of friends and then went down ‘the rabbit hole of internet ‘reality.’”
At sentencing, Lane apologized to the victims and the effect his actions have had on them. He also apologized for bringing others into the Base. Specifically, he apologized to Kaderli, his family and the families of those affected by the case.
The families of both men were present in the hearing. Prior to Lane’s sentencing his father addressed the court telling the judge that his son would be welcome with open arms at home once he is released.
“After he serves his time his family will welcome him home for the next phase of his life,” Thomas Lane said.
The origin of the plot began with a conversation with a Canadian Army Reservist, Patrik Mathews, who was in the U.S. illegally.
During this discussion Mathews, who the affidavit describes only as TB, talked about his frustration after being outed as a neoNazi and subsequently losing his job in the Canadian Armed Forces.
The men talked about wanting to hit back at antifascist groups. That sentiment was carried into a plot by Lane, Helterbrand and Kaderli to target a married Bartow County couple, the FBI affidavit filed in the case stated.
While the men didn’t have any interactions with that couple, Kaderli originally pointed them out as a target although he didn’t take part in the conspiracy after a ride to scout out he victims’ home, his attorney John Lovell said.
Attorneys for both men pointed to the role a FBI confidential witness, who went by Scott, played in the plan.
Scott brought hard liquor for the men, who were mostly minors, to drink and then discussed racist politics and eventually a murder plot. Lane’s attorney Matthew Hoskins described Scott as a big, tattooed guy who was older and more knowledgeable than the young men. They looked up to him, he said.
Playing a video clip, Hoskins questioned why someone representing the FBI would bring alcohol and give advice concerning the execution of the murder plot.
“The undercover agent, he is now acting as the specialist of this operation,” Hoskins said.
Once the plan was devised, it got deeper — including using 37C as a code for the day they could commit the killings. Helterbrand specifically said he could acquire items that would silence their firearms
and catch the spent shells.
The bag to catch shell casings was even one of Scott’s suggestion, Hoskins said, referring to the video.
“He has some very strong influence in how this plan was developed,” Hoskins said.
Five other men still face charges which stem from a gathering property owned by Lane’s family in Silver Creek.
Mathews, William Garfield Bilbrough IV, Brian
Mark Lemley Jr., Brandon Gregory Ashley and Duncan Christopher Trimmel have been indicted on charges stemming from what prosecutors described as the ritual beheading of a ram during a white supremacist paramilitary training camp during October 2019.
Matthews, Lemley and Bilbrough have been sentenced to federal prison for their part in plot at a gun rights rally in Virginia.