Member of neo-Nazi group sentenced on gun charge in Virginia
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A northern Virginia man with ties to a violent neo-Nazi group was sentenced Friday to a year in prison for weapons violations after he renounced his ties to extremism.
Andrew Jon Thomasberg, 21, of McLean acknowledged as part of a plea bargain last year in federal court that he possessed weapons while abusing psychedelic drugs and that he bought a semiautomatic rifle for another person who was also a drug user.
Court papers show Thomasberg joked in text messages about the juxtaposition of drug use and neo-Nazi ideology.
“Yo im gonna start tripping again. Psychedelic Nazis,” Thomasberg wrote in one message. In another, he wrote: “Drug addiction is untermensch.” “Untermensch” is a term that Nazis used for people they considered to be racially inferior.
At Friday’s sentencing hearing in federal court in Alexandria, though, Thomasberg apologized and said he is renouncing his racist ideology.
Prosecutors say Thomasberg was a leader and recruiter for a Virginia-based cell of Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group that seeks to incite race war and has been linked to several killings.
Prosecutors sought an 18-month term for Thomasberg, which was at the upper end of what is recommended under federal sentencing guidelines. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said his neo-Nazi affiliation, while not itself illegal, should be taken into account because it shows his willingness to engage in violence.
Thomasberg’s lawyer, Gretchen Taylor, asked that he be released with time served since his September arrest.
“He was chosen to be prosecuted because of his ideology and beliefs,” Taylor said.
Matthew Barakat is an Associated Press writer.