Neo-Nazi who plotted to destroy BGE substations denied new trial

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Brandon Clint Russell, the neo-Nazi who plotted to destroy Baltimore-area electrical substations, was denied a new trial on Tuesday.

Russell, who was convicted on Feb. 4 of conspiracy to damage an energy facility, asked for a new trial after learning a confidential FBI informant had been paid more than had been disclosed.

The FBI paid the informant, known as Christopher Jackson, about $80,000 total, not just for his work on this case. Jackson testified at trial that he had “received about $70,000.” He said about $40,000 was direct payment and $30,000 was for reimbursements for plane tickets.

But on the evening Jan. 27, the day the jury was selected and two days before Jackson testified, he was paid another $7,180.11. The Department of Justice disclosed that fact on March 19, after Russell was convicted.

Russell moved for a new trial on March 25, arguing Jackson committed perjury by failing to disclose the payment and the government suppressed evidence.

“Had counsel been aware of the undisclosed payment, in addition to his bias, the witness would have been vigorously cross-examined regarding his untruthful testimony, which would bear upon his credibility as a witness,” Russell’s motion for a new trial stated.

“Mr. Jackson was the Government’s star witness, and his testimony was critical to the Government’s case-in-chief. Furthermore, based upon the government’s recent disclosure, counsel would have been able to demonstrate to the Jury that the payments to (him) were ongoing.”

U.S. District Court Senior Judge James Bredar wrote April 29 that the error was “unfortunate,” but “not so grave as to undermine confidence in the jury’s verdict.” Bredar wrote the extra payment increased the total Jackson received by about 10%, an amount that is “just on the threshold of significance.”

“And the timing of the payment, occurring on the first night of trial and two days before Jackson’s testimony, raises some concern,” Bredar wrote.

“But in light of the limited nature of Jackson’s testimony, the trove of evidence corroborating Jackson’s testimony as well as independent sources of evidence tending to show Russell’s participation in the conspiracy, the fact that Russell did not deny that the conversations about which Jackson testified had occurred, and the fact that the jury already knew that Jackson was compensated for his services, the Court cannot say that the Government’s error was so serious as to undermine confidence in the verdict.”

In late 2022 and early 2023, Russell planned with co-conspirator Sarah Beth Clendaniel, of Catonsville, to destroy Baltimore Gas and Electric substations in Perry Hall, Reisterstown and Norrisville, among other locations, in order to cause a “cascading failure,” prosecutors said.

Russell is from Florida and met Clendaniel while both were incarcerated in 2018, court records state. Russell in 2013 founded Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi organization the DOJ refers to as a “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist group.”

Evidence showed that they believed in a white supremacist ideology of “accelerationism,” which holds, as Bredar wrote, “that society is irredeemably corrupted and that the only solution is to precipitate societal collapse leading to a race war that will result in the victory of the white race.”

Russell faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. In September, Clendaniel was sentenced to 18 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

His sentencing hearing had been scheduled for June 17, but Russell asked the court to delay sentencing by “approximately 30 days.” His lawyers, Baltimore attorney Kobie Flowers and Florida attorney Ian Goldstein, said they were waiting for information that would not be ready in time for them to file the sentencing memorandum by the current June 3 deadline. The government did not oppose the requested delay.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project is also on Russell’s defense team. The organization joined to try to force prosecutors to disclose whether they used a controversial foreign surveillance law to collect information on Russell.