UPDATE: Kansas Militia Member Gets 30 Years in Bomb Plot
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The alleged ringleader of a foiled plot to massacre Muslims in southwest Kansas has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Patrick Stein was sentenced Friday for his role in the plot to blow up a mosque and apartments housing Somali immigrants in Garden City. The attack was planned for the day after the 2016 election. Stein was one of three militia members convicted last year. The plot was thwarted by another militia member who tipped off authorities to escalating threats of violence. He testified that Stein started recruiting others to kill Muslim immigrants after the June 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Prosecutors had sought life in prison. Stein's attorneys asked for 15 years. A judge sentenced Stein to 30 years for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and 10 years for conspiracy against civil rights. The sentences will run concurrently.
-- (Earlier versions of this story from High Plains Public Radio and the Associated Press) --
Kansas Militia Member Gets 26 Years in Bomb Plot
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A militia member who authorities say helped make and test bombs in a foiled plot to massacre Muslims in southwest Kansas has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Gavin Wright was sentenced Friday. Wright is one of three militia members who were convicted last year in a plot to detonate explosives during prayer time at a mosque inside an apartment complex in Garden City that houses Somalis. The attack was planned for the day after the 2016 presidential election. It was foiled after another militia member alerted authorities and agreed to wear a wire as a paid FBI informant. Prosecutors say Wright helped work on homemade bombs at his G&G Mobile Home Sales business in the nearby city of Liberal. Prosecutors had sought life in prison, while Wright's attorneys asked for time served.
Kansas Militia Member Sentenced to 25 Years for Bomb Plot
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who authorities say drafted a manifesto for militia members involved in a foiled plot to massacre Muslims in southwest Kansas has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
A judge sentenced Curtis Allen on Friday for his role in the plot to blow up a mosque and apartments housing Somali immigrants in Garden City. The attack was planned for the day after the 2016 election. Allen was one of three militia members convicted last year.
Allen was sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and 10 years for conspiracy against civil rights. The sentences will run concurrently.
Authorities say Allen drafted the group's handwritten manifesto that outlined grievances against the government for — in the document's words — "not enforcing our borders." Authorities say the men planned to release the manifesto after the bombing.
Prosecutors had sought life in prison. Allen's attorneys asked for 10 years.
Garden City Somalis to Testify at Sentencing for "Militia" Members
Three members of a self-styled, racist, “militia” could face life in prison for a foiled plot to blow up a mosque and an apartment complex housing Somali immigrants in Garden City. The three western Kansas men convicted of the failed bomb plot are due to be sentenced in Wichita today (FRI). As Corinne Boyer reports from Garden City, the judge will hear testimony today from some of the immigrants who were targeted.
