A federal judge threw the book at an ex-US soldier who plotted to kill fellow Army members on behalf of a bizarre neo-Nazi satanist group, sentencing him Friday to 45 years in prison.
Judge Gregory Woods imposed the maximum term on Ethan Melzer, who pleaded guilty in June to a trio of crimes related to his murderous plot for a nihilistic Nazi group known as the Order of Nine Angles, or O9A.
“Mr. Melzer’s crimes were repugnant. He betrayed the United States of America. He betrayed the US military,” Woods said before imposing the sentence in Manhattan federal court.
While no one was injured or killed due to the plot, Woods said it was “not for lack of trying by Mr. Melzer.”
“This was not a lark,” the judge said. “He did indeed attempt to murder his fellow soldiers.”
Melzer, a 24-year-old former drug addict from Kentucky, was deployed to Italy with the Army in 2019 and briefed on the layout, purpose and security at the military base where he was stationed.
Melzer immediately began sharing sensitive data — including troop movements, security and armaments — with members of the occultist Nazi group so they could plot what they called a “jihadi attack” and “mass casualty” event on the Army unit.
Members of O9A communicating with Melzer passed the information along to a purported member of al Qaeda to increase the likelihood of a successful strike.
“Ethan Melzer is a traitor,” Assistant US Attorney Matthew Hellman said at the sentencing hearing.
“He attempted to murder dozens of American soldiers,” he said, adding that the case is “one of the most stunning betrayals in the ranks of the armed forces ever to be prosecuted in federal court.”
Hellman said Melzer and other O9A members believe in the inevitability of a global race war and plot actions to accelerate the end of Western civilization.
In brief remarks, Melzer — shackled at the ankles and sporting an O9A tattoo on his left forearm — apologized for his crimes.
“I still regret everything I did,” he said. “I wish I could say I’m sorry to my platoon.”
His defense attorney, Jonathan Marvinny, urged Woods for a lenient sentence of 15 years, arguing Melzer is still a young man and his plot, while serious, was “not even close to fruition.”
Marvinny said Melzer was seduced by the occultist group, which he described as a “dangerous but in some ways ridiculous cult.”
He added that Melzer could change over the course of a 15-year sentence.
“He is not a dyed-in-the-wool extremist. He is not someone who cannot change,” Marvinny said.
In a statement after the sentencing, US Attorney Damian Williams said federal prosecutors will “work tirelessly to bring traitors like Melzer to justice and to protect the safety and integrity of our armed services.”