FALLS CHURCH, Virginia – A former student at Old Dominion University who joined white supremacists in a conspiracy targeting a black church, his own university and a cabinet officer, among others, was sentenced to nearly three years in prison on Monday. -market.
The 33-month sentence for John William Kirby Kelley, 20, of Vienna, Virginia, essentially divides the difference between the five-year sentence sought by prosecutors and the 14-month sentence served by his lawyers.
Kelley pleaded guilty to hosting an Internet chat in which he and others called out fake bomb threats and attacks on more than 100 targets, many of whom were targeted because of racial or religious animus.
Among those in the conspiracy was a founder of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi hate group. This individual, John C. Denton, of Montgomery, Texas, also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
Kelley was 17 and lived in a house in northern Virginia when the cemetery chat room started. The chat room soon became a haven for the hateful rhetoric of white supremacists, who reveled in the chaos caused by their coup calls.
Among the targets were the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria and the home of then Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who also lives in Alexandria. The group also targeted the Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in Arlington, Texas, and a black church in Schenectady, New York, the First Reformed Church.
Kelley also had his own school, Old Dominion University, twice targeted, causing closures and a police response. The university police contacted Kelley about the calls, but prosecutors said it was the subsequent call targeting Nielsen that brought the police to members of the conspiracy.
Even though Kelley used racist language regularly and admitted that the coup conspiracy chose some targets because of race or religion, he denied that he was racist and argued that he naively agreed with the hateful language prevalent on the Internet channel he created.
At his sentencing hearing at the United States Distinguished Court in Alexandria, he apologized for his conduct and asked for clemency. He said his time in prison was difficult for him, noting difficulties such as the lack of access to the prison barbershop.
“The racial language that was expressed by me and my co-conspirators, along with the coup attacks, do not represent my values and beliefs,” he told the judge. “Furthermore, I was personally disgusted with the direction the chat room took after my departure. I made it a personal mission to improve and separate myself from bad influences like these. “
His lawyer, Cadence Mertz, objected that Kelley’s crimes were classified as hate crimes, which resulted in a higher conviction rule. She said there was no evidence that Kelley personally shot anyone because of racial animus.
“He made it very clear that those opinions he expressed, which are hateful and vile, are not who he is,” said Mertz.
Judge Liam O’Grady decided, however, that the hate crime designation is appropriate and said that his conduct and his association with white supremacists “demonstrates how far you were and how you were aligned with this group.”
But he gave Kelley credit for his youth, his renunciation of racism and mental health deficits by giving him a 33-month sentence that was less than the recommended 51 to 60 month interval.
Virginia East District Attorney General Raj Parekh, whose office processed the case, said in a statement: “Attacks are serious crimes that disrupt the operations of local emergency agencies, remove first aid from real emergencies and place victims. .. in grave danger. EDVA will continue to bring to justice those who threaten public security with these threatening frauds, especially when those threats are motivated by racial or religious animus. “