Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Hasson sentenced to more than 13 years in alleged terror plot

[Zorro]

Source: Washington Post

A Coast Guard officer accused of stockpiling 15 guns and other weapons in his Maryland home as part of an alleged plot to kill people in support of white nationalism was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison by a federal judge Friday in a case that illustrates the difficulty of prosecuting accused domestic terrorists who are arrested before carrying out violent crimes.

Former lieutenant Christopher P. Hasson, 50, was indicted last year and pleaded guilty to federal firearms and drug charges. Authorities said he intended to embark on a murderous rampage targeting liberal politicians on Capitol Hill and prominent on-air figures at cable news networks.

The government argued he should be locked up for a quarter century. The federal public defender’s office in Maryland wanted the judge to release him from jail and let him go home. At issue is the problematic question of whether Hasson’s alleged plotting ultimately would have led to lethal action.

Sentencing memos filed by defense lawyers and the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland offer vastly differing depictions of Hasson, who was a Marine Corps aircraft mechanic in the first Gulf War and joined the Coast Guard in 1996 after a stint in the Virginia National Guard.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/coast-guard-lt-christopher-hasson-set-to-be-sentenced-in-alleged-terror-plot/2020/01/31/d01b048a-43ce-11ea-aa6a-083d01b3ed18_story.html

[Aristus]

1. Hope it was worth it, fuckhead.

You've got thirteen years to decide if it was...

[keithbvadu2]

2. The federal public defender's office in Maryland wanted the judge to release him from jail and let h

The federal public defender’s office in Maryland wanted the judge to release him from jail and let him go home.

"The federal public defender’s office"

"federal"

[bullwinkle428]

3. Here comes the pardon! "Hasson and Gallagher"...your newest

Keep America Great tag-team!

OH, NO...TRUMP WOULD NEVER SINK THAT LOW!

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[tavernier]

10. My first thought.

[ck4829]

4. Blaming opioids for it... He was like this for 30+ years, just decided to act on it now

[Jake Stern]

5. Wonder how long it takes Trump to pardon him.

Place yer bets!

[Nitram]

6. If he has been found guilty and sentenced, why is it an "alleged" terror plot?

[mr_lebowski]

7. Sounds like he pled guilty to drug and firearms charges ...

And this was the sentence for those charges.

Not sure but that's how read the OP.

[Nitram]

13. You are right. I remember now that it was reported that they had dropped the terrorism charges.

So the headline is a bit misleading. He was not sentenced in an alleged terror plot. He was sentenced on drug and firearms charges.

[ck4829]

9. Yeah, white's up with that?

[marble falls]

8. Twenty-four years in and only an LT? In the Navy you move up or get out.

[oldsoftie]

11. I wondered that too. Its like that in every branch I think.

Unless he used to be an enlisted man and then got his commission later in his career

[marble falls]

12. He was an enlisted man in the Marines, but after he made LT he needed to move again ...

in four years He had enough time to retire (almost 30 years), and who retires as an LT though I do know of Captains in the Army who retire at twenty years.

My wife's dad made it to Major from Pvt in the Army but stalled out and was going to be reduced to highest ranking Sgt Major of the Army when he couldn't get to LT Col. He had Silver and Bronze Stars with clusters. He also clashed with superiors, so he retired from the Army as a Major.

[rwsanders]

14. Could be OCS, or more likely the Warrant to LT route.

I worked for a LT that went that route. The guy could barely read or write. I heard other officers laughing at him saying that his e-mails were the only thing they had ever read that could make you dumber the more you tried to figure them out.
He's still a civilian employee of the USCG.
Sadly there are 2 types of officers in the Coast Guard (and probably in other services), the ones that try to do the work and those that advance by kissing up. Problem is that the second type expect the same if you are working for them. Not a great situation if you are just trying to do your job.

Sadly the USCG has a bit of an inferiority complex and thinks that training, policies, procedures, uniforms, and personnel from the other services are just dandy and need to be accepted without question. Some of our admirals seem to think the Coast Guard should be a mini-navy. It's a damned great service with important missions and I wish more of the folks in the Guard saw it that way.

[marble falls]

15. I've always had respect for the shallow draft Navy. It always seemed you guys worked ...

harder than we old salts did.

[rwsanders]

16. Well I went in as an officer, and didn't do sea time because I was brought in as an oil/chemical

response specialist, but the enlisted guys I worked with were scary. Just point them in the right direction and they'd work themselves beyond comprehension.
I went to the BP spill and a few were on a marshy "island" of mushed vegetation and the surface was like a sponge. The kids there greeted us with smiles on their faces in horrible conditions and oppressive heat.
I did my best to be sure that they could do their job, and that I kept the command from slowing them down.
The Search and Rescue folks are another story altogether. I was honored to be able to serve.