A man was found guilty of conspiracy to damage an energy facility after officials say he planned to attack transformers inside Maryland electrical substations and cause a “cascading failure” in the name of white supremacy.

A federal jury found 29-year-old Brandon Russell of Orlando, Florida, guilty after a six-day trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Maryland announced Monday.

According to court documents obtained by USA TODAY, Russell admitted to having “National Socialist,” or Nazi, beliefs and previously started his own national socialist group that targets racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQIA community, the U.S. government, journalists and critical infrastructure.

Officials said that between November 2022 and February 3, 2023, Russell planned to attack “critical infrastructure” such as transformers located within electrical substations. Officials said he made the plans due to racist and “violent extremist beliefs.” 

While planning the attacks on the transformers, Russell allegedly noted that just a few attacks could lead to “cascading failure.” 

A lawyer for Russell declined to comment Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors: Man recruited Maryland woman to enact his plan

Russell planned to have Maryland-based woman Sarah Beth Clendaniel help him carry out the attacks in Baltimore and other areas, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in its news release.

According to the DOJ, Clendaniel and Russell were plotting to significantly damage Baltimore’s regional power grid, which could’ve cost more than $75 million to fix. 

He also told an unnamed, confidential source for the Federal Bureau of Investigation that attacks are best made “when there is greatest strain on the grid,” like “when everyone is using electricity to either heat or cool their homes,” according to court documents.

Officials quoted Clendaniel, who said if they hit enough substations within 24 hours, they could “completely destroy this whole city” and the damage would “probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully.”

According to the court documents, Clendaniel told Russell she had a terminal kidney illness and most likely wouldn’t live for longer than a few more months. She said she was a felon and wasn’t able to get a gun herself. She wanted to “accomplish something worthwhile” before her death, and wanted a gun “within the next couple of weeks,” court documents show.

U.S. District Judge Bredar sentenced Clendaniel to 18 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release in September 2024, the DOJ said. She was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of 15 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm and three years of supervised release.

Florida man led his own Nazi group in 2017

According to court documents, Russell lived with three roommates in 2017 and led a Neo-Nazi group. His three roommates were part of the group when one of them, Devon Arthurs, left and converted to Islam. According to Arthurs, two of their roommates bullied him for being Muslim. He then killed them.

Arthurs told police that Russell was the leader of the Neo-Nazi group, and that Russell and their other two roommates had been planning to attack U.S. infrastructure, according to court documents.

Russell was charged with and pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosive materials, court documents show. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. 

“Russell has served his sentence and is currently on supervised release,” officials wrote in Feb. 2023.

Russell is now facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to damage an energy facility. Senior United States District Judge James K. Bredar will decide his sentence, but as of Tuesday, no sentencing date has been scheduled. 

Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno condemned Russell’s actions in the news release, calling him a “self-proclaimed National Socialist.”

“Today’s verdict reinforces there is no tolerance for those who seek to harm our communities and use violence to further hate-filled beliefs,” DelBagno said. 

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.