Neo-Nazi who planned to blow up synagogue sentenced to 19

Colorado man who prosecutors say is a self-identified neo-Nazi has been sentenced to over 19 years for a plan to blow up one of the state’s oldest synagogues, officials said .

Richard Holzer, 28, was sentenced to 235 months, or about 19 and a half years, in prison and 15 years on probation for the plan to target the Temple Emanuel synagogue in Pueblo, the US district attorney’s office said. from Colorado.

Holzer pleaded guilty in October to a federal hate crime and one count of explosives. While planning to blow up the synagogue, which was built in 1900, he was unknowingly in contact with the FBI.

Holzer confessed after his arrest and said that although he did not intend to kill anyone, he would still have continued the attack even if people had been inside, according to documents judicial.

The dynamite and homemade bombs were provided by the FBI and could not have detonated, officials said. Holzer was planning to detonate what he believed to be explosives in the wee hours of the morning of November 2, 2019.

Jason Dunn, US District Attorney for Colorado, said the sentence was “a further step in our continued fight against extremism.”

Officials said Holzer’s actions met the federal definition of domestic terrorism. “Mr. Holzer has targeted a place of worship for violence and destruction to drive people of the Jewish faith from our community,” Michael Schneider, FBI special agent in charge of the Denver office, said in a statement.

Public defenders representing Holzer declined to comment on Friday evening. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to recommend more than 20 years in prison, documents show.