Defendants with Ties to White Supremacy Sentenced in Connection with Plot to Destroy Energy Facilities

Press Release

<_w3a_listitem listvalue="RALEIGH" datavalue="RALEIGH"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="GREENVILLE" datavalue="GREENVILLE"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="NEW BERN" datavalue="NEW BERN"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="WILMINGTON" datavalue="WILMINGTON"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="ELIZABETH CITY" datavalue="ELIZABETH CITY">WILMINGTON, N.C. - The fifth of five defendants charged with targeting an energy facility has been sentenced. The combined sentences total 324 months in prison. Jordan Duncan, 29, was sentenced to 84 months in prison for manufacturing a short barrel rifle in violation of the National Firearms Act. Previously, co-defendant Liam Collins, 25, was sentenced to 120 months for interstate transportation of a short barrel rifle, Paul James Kryscuk, 38, was sentenced to 78 months for conspiracy to damage an energy facility, and both Joseph Maurino, 25, and Justin Wade Hermanson, 25, were sentenced to 21 months in prison for conspiracy to manufacture firearms for criminal purposes. Duncan, Collins, and Hermanson are former Marines who were previously assigned to Camp Lejeune.

"We have now brought to justice all five of the defendants involved in a self-described 'modern day SS,' who conspired, prepared, and trained to attack America's power grid in the name of violent white supremacist ideology," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. "The Justice Department is aggressively investigating, disrupting, and prosecuting these kinds of hate-fueled plots that seek to sow violence and chaos and endanger our national security."

"Attacks on our critical infrastructure pose a threat to all Americans," said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. "We will relentlessly pursue anyone who seeks to destabilize our national security and institutions through hate-fueled violence."

"This NCIS-led investigation has been crucial in dismantling a domestic terrorist cell intent on targeting innocent people and destroying critical infrastructure," said NCIS Director Omar Lopez. "The tireless efforts of NCIS, our dedicated law enforcement partners, and the U.S. Attorney's Office demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that those who conspire to undermine our national security are thoroughly investigated and held accountable."

"There is no place for hate in America," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "The Department of Homeland Security is proud to support the whole-of-government, and in fact whole-of-society, effort to disrupt acts of hate-fueled violence and bring the perpetrators to justice. Every single day, Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations bring tremendous dedication, bravery, and skill to this vital mission, and our whole country is safer for their service - because whenever one community is targeted by an act of hate, we are all the victims."

"Today's sentencing is the final step in holding accountable five men who were planning to attack an energy facility and were inspired by racially motivated violent extremism," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "If the defendants had been able to carry out an attack it could have caused suffering to thousands of American citizens. The FBI is committed to detecting and stopping such acts and will continue to work with prosecutors to see justice is served in such cases."

"Driven by a white supremacist ideology, these defendants set out to terrorize the nation by targeting America's power grid, aiming to create chaos, instill fear, and put countless innocent lives at risk," said Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). "The sentences handed down reflect not only the depravity of their intentions but also ATF's steadfast commitment-alongside our law enforcement partners-to protect our nation from extremist threats and violent attacks, regardless of the motives behind them."

"HSI, along with its law enforcement partners, keep the safety and security of the American public at the forefront of our actions," said Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of Homeland Security Investigations. "This case sends a clear message to those who wrongfully believe they can plot in the shadows undetected; they will be caught and there will be consequences."

Previously filed charges alleged that Collins and Kryscuk were members of and made multiple posts on the "Iron March" forum, a gathering point for young neo-Nazis to organize and recruit for extremist organizations, until the forum was closed in late 2017. Collins and Kryscuk met through the forum and expanded their group using an encrypted messaging application as an alternate means of communication outside of the forum. Collins and Kryscuk recruited additional members, including Duncan, Hermanson, and Maurino.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, the group researched, discussed, and reviewed at length a previous attack on the power grid by an unknown group who used assault-style rifles in an attempt to explode a power substation. Between 2017 and 2020, Kryscuk manufactured firearms while Collins stole military gear, including magazines for assault-style rifles, and had them delivered to the other defendants. During that time, Duncan, gathered a library of information, some military-owned, regarding firearms, explosives, and nerve toxins and shared that information with Kryscuk and Collins. Members of the group went on to conduct training, including a live-fire training in the desert near Boise, Idaho. From video footage recorded by the members during the training, Kryscuk, Duncan, and others produced a montage video of their training. In the video, the participants are seen firing short barrel rifles and other assault-type rifles, and the end of the propaganda video shows the four participants outfitted in AtomWaffen masks giving the "Heil Hitler" sign, beneath the image of a black sun, a Nazi symbol. The last frame bears the phrase, "Come home white man."

In October 2020, during his arrest, a handwritten list of approximately one dozen intersections and places in Idaho and surrounding states was discovered in Kryscuk's possession, including intersections and/or places containing a transformer, substation, or other component of the power grid for the northwest United States. Prior to their arrests, Collins and Duncan had relocated to Idaho from North Carolina and Texas, respectively, to be near Kryscuk.

Michael F. Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI Salt Lake City and Charlotte Field Offices with assistance from Fields Offices in Boston, New York, and Newark, the Boise Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara Kocher and Gabriel Diaz of the Eastern District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney John Cella of the Justice Department's National Security Division prosecuted the case, with assistance from Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Idaho, District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, and the District of Rhode Island.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:20-CR-167-M.

Updated October 29, 2024