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...this guy doesn't seem to be the brightest bulb in the pack.
Attempted domestic terror plot lands Katy man in prison
Attempted domestic terror plot lands Katy man in prison
By Cindy George
Updated 2:19 pm, Friday, November 6, 2015
A Katy man who planned to launch a domestic terrorism attack last year by robbing an armored car before detonating an explosion, killing a state trooper and spraying a mosque with gunfire at prayer time has been sentenced to federal prison.
Robert James Talbot Jr. was arrested outside a Houston storage locker in March 2014 on the morning he planned to launch his nationwide "American Insurgent Movement."
On Friday, federal prosecutors asked for 20 years, the statutory maximum sentence, saying they wanted to protect the community from someone who poses "extreme" danger to the public and law enforcement. The 39-year-old's lawyer, Windi Pastorini, contended that her client has admitted his crimes, apologized and has "diminished capacity" that requires mental health treatment.
U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein ordered Talbot to 6½ years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. The jurist also ordered psychological evaluation and mental health treatment.
Talbot was the target of an eight-month undercover investigation dating back to 2013 by Houston's FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.
As federal agents monitored him on the internet, they covertly inserted undercover operatives and civilian informants into Talbot's life. One person posed as an oil platform worker who could acquire explosives and another pretended to have contacts in the militia movement.
Online, Talbot espoused his desire to recruit like-minded individuals to blow up government buildings to "take back" power over the country, to rob banks for the money to purchase additional weapons and ammunition and to attack mosques when they were full of as many people as possible.
Talbot's wish to kill law enforcement officers was an attempt to settle a personal score: He wanted to assassinate the Texas state trooper who had arrested him for intoxicated driving in early 2014 – and set a trap for more officers.
Attempted domestic terror plot lands Katy man in prison
Attempted domestic terror plot lands Katy man in prison
By Cindy George
Updated 2:19 pm, Friday, November 6, 2015
A Katy man who planned to launch a domestic terrorism attack last year by robbing an armored car before detonating an explosion, killing a state trooper and spraying a mosque with gunfire at prayer time has been sentenced to federal prison.
Robert James Talbot Jr. was arrested outside a Houston storage locker in March 2014 on the morning he planned to launch his nationwide "American Insurgent Movement."
On Friday, federal prosecutors asked for 20 years, the statutory maximum sentence, saying they wanted to protect the community from someone who poses "extreme" danger to the public and law enforcement. The 39-year-old's lawyer, Windi Pastorini, contended that her client has admitted his crimes, apologized and has "diminished capacity" that requires mental health treatment.
U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein ordered Talbot to 6½ years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. The jurist also ordered psychological evaluation and mental health treatment.
Talbot was the target of an eight-month undercover investigation dating back to 2013 by Houston's FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.
As federal agents monitored him on the internet, they covertly inserted undercover operatives and civilian informants into Talbot's life. One person posed as an oil platform worker who could acquire explosives and another pretended to have contacts in the militia movement.
Online, Talbot espoused his desire to recruit like-minded individuals to blow up government buildings to "take back" power over the country, to rob banks for the money to purchase additional weapons and ammunition and to attack mosques when they were full of as many people as possible.
Talbot's wish to kill law enforcement officers was an attempt to settle a personal score: He wanted to assassinate the Texas state trooper who had arrested him for intoxicated driving in early 2014 – and set a trap for more officers.
