Plans for the defence of Ethan Phelan Melzer was revealed in court papers in the months before the Kentucky man abruptly pleaded guilty to charges on June 24, eliminating the need for his July 5 trial in Manhattan federal court. Sentencing is set for Jan 6. He could face up to 45 years in prison rather than the life sentence that a jury conviction could have brought.
The official who spoke on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue told the newspaper that 09A membership ranges from a few dozen to about 2,000, targeting young people and sending supporters into groups to influence and recruit. “The defendant believed he could force the US into prolonged armed conflict while causing the deaths of as many soldiers as possible. Melzer’s traitorous conduct was a betrayal of his storied unit and nothing short of an attack against the most essential American values,” he said in a news release.
As Melzer’s lawyers wrote: “The charges in this case are sensational, the facts less so: No ambush on Melzer’s unit happened, none was close to happening, and Melzer had no intention of seeing one happen. In post-arrest interviews with law enforcement he made clear that he never intended to see an attack occur and that he believed that his interlocutors were ‘jokers’ who similarly had no intentions or capabilities of orchestrating one.
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