A former U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday after he plotted to ambush his unit and illegally shared classified information with a violent transnational extremist organization, of which he was a member.

Ethan Melzer “infiltrated” the U.S. Army in service of the Order of Nine Angles (O9A), a violent neo-Nazi, Satanist group that seeks the destruction of Western civilization, plotting a jihadist attack on his unit ahead of a planned deployment to Turkey, attorney Damian Williams said in a Department of Justice (DOJ) statement. Melzer pleaded guilty in June 2022 for attempted murder, providing material support to terrorists and disclosing protected national security information to O9A and jihadist members abroad.

“Today’s sentence holds Mr. Melzer accountable for an egregious and shameful act of betrayal against his own military unit and his country,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in the statement. “The Justice Department will use all available resources to disrupt and bring to justice those who would aid foreign terrorist organizations and use violence to harm our men and women in uniform or any American anywhere.”

[Good. Rot. ~ Beege]