ALBANY — An out-of-state man with white supremacist ties faces a maximum prison sentence of five years in connection to a bank heist plot in Johnstown, according to federal law enforcement officials.
Michael Brown, Jr. of Exton, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on Friday in U.S. District Court to his alleged involvement in a three-man attempt to commit armed robbery at Community National Bank on North Comrie Avenue.
U.S. District Court Judge Brenda K. Sannes will deliver Brown’s sentencing on Nov. 3. In addition to prison time, he could be fined upwards of $250,000.
Brown has been held without bail since his Dec. 14 arrest. Also detained are alleged co-conspirators Brian Tierney of Virginia and Luke Kenna of Johnstown, both of whom await an Aug. 7 trial.
Under nicknames “Wodanaz” (Tierney), “Lt.” (Kenna) and “Doc Grimson,” the three between Nov. 14 and Nov. 27 allegedly used coded old Hollywood references while describing plans to rob the North Comrie Avenue bank in an encrypted “SS Screenwriter’s Guild” group chat, according to court documents. The later title is a reference to Nazi Germany death squads.
Kenna and Brown allegedly helped surveil the bank while Tierney reportedly bought handgun parts “for use” in the alleged heist, which was scheduled for Jan. 6, according to court documents.
The Johnstown man was pulled over at a traffic stop on Nov. 26 when authorities noticed signal transmission issues. They found a ghost gun, a large knife and a clad of armor on Kenna.
At the time, authorities found messages appearing to show Kenna hoping to “throw some terror” into his former employer, seemingly out of revenge. He was apparently “broke” at the time.
In mid-November, Kenna told the group chat that their alleged plans had been outed by a group of anti-facist bloggers and they were being monitored by federal agents.
Brown and Kenna, about a month before the group chat started, had planned to attend a “Warrior’s Lodge” event in the Adirondacks.
The trio have been found to hold white supremacist views, according to investigators. Kenna’s Instagram was filled with dark references to Neo-Nazi lore and he has also been connected to Operation Werewolf, a chapter of the Wolves of Vinland hate group.
Brown had run a neo-Nazi web channel dubbed the Aryan Compartmented Elements, while operating “Black Market Tactical and Black Market Strength and Conditioning” in his Exton homebase.
Tierney, 29, was the youngest and last of the three to get arraigned in connection to the robbery. Court documents show that he planned to rent a hotel on the day of the alleged heist.
FBI agents working out of field offices in Richmond, Virginia, Albany and Philadelphia, as well as state and local police, were involved in the probe.
Tyler A. McNeil can be reached at 518-395-3047 or tmcneil@dailygazette.net. Follow him on Facebook at Tyler A. McNeil, Daily Gazette or Twitter @TylerAMcNeil.