The men deserved improvement due to “passion” and “virulence” remove the US government and assassinate lawmakers, expressed in conversations recorded on FBI surveillance footage, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang warned on Thursday of the conviction, reports The Guardian.
Lemley, an army veteran, insisted the men were just talking.
“The things I said are horrible and don’t reflect who I really am or to whom my family raised me, ”Lemley told the judge, the Associated Press reports. “Murder was never in my heart; just silly dreams of war glory and courage. “
“I connected with people who were extreme, very extreme and hostile to the point of action,” he said.
Their lawyers argued that men should be convicted only of crimes they confessed to and not of plans that were not carried out. Prosecutors demanded a 25-year prison sentence.
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