ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A founder and former leader of a neo-Nazi group has pleaded guilty to conspiring to place hoax phone calls targeting an African American church, a Cabinet official and others.
Twenty-six-year-old John C. Denton of Montgomery, Texas, faces up to five years in prison after entering a guilty plea Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria.
Prosecutors say Denton led a group called Atomwaffen Division.
Denton's targets in 2018 and 2019 included the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and Old Dominion University in Norfolk.
Denton also placed swatting calls targeting news outlet ProPublica, which had identified Denton as an Atomwaffen leader.
