(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A judge sentenced former U.S. intelligence analyst Russell Richardson Vane IV to “time served” on Wednesday, allowing the man who tried fomenting terrorism within a Virginia militia to avoid additional prison time.
Vane, who worked as an analyst for the Pentagon’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, faced up to five years imprisonment for making ricin, which is a deadly poison.
The FBI began investigating Vane earlier this year, when the Virginia Kekoas militia publicly expelled him because they thought he was a government provocateur trying to entrap them in a conspiracy similar to the 2020 Gov. Whitmer kidnap case.
Russell Richardson “Duke” Vane IV has been sentenced to TIME SERVED and remains free after prosecution and defense agreed he poses no danger to the community.
Three years supervised release, four months home detention, and $5000 fine. https://t.co/l9dBZQWVyP
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) November 13, 2024
In February, Vane IV promoted the idea of collecting Hydrogen Peroxide in a group chat with the Kekoas and other militias. He was then accused of being a provocateur, with other members calling his posts “fed plot shit for real.”
But that still didn’t stop Vane IV, who then asked the Kekoas whether they had plans if the President were to be assassinated.
To top it off, Vane IV allegedly gave another Kekoas leader named “Sasquatch” a batch of purported Defense Intelligence Agency documents about using homemade explosives.
After reporter Ford Fischer broke the news of Vane’s public expulsion from the Kekoas, the FBI raided his home—finding the ricin.
“Kekoas members … believe that VANE might have been a federal law enforcement official attempting to ‘entrap’ members of the group,” the FBI’s acknowledged in its complaint.
INVESTIGATIVE VIDEO THREAD: The Virginia Kekoas, a pro-gun prepper militia based in Eastern Virginia and formerly affiliated with the Boogaloo movement, tells News2Share that they recently kicked out a member they believe may have been plotting an explosives-related entrapment… pic.twitter.com/Ubo3aXhVyk
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) April 1, 2024
The Justice Department later confirmed that Vane stole the DIA documents from his workplace, but he hasn’t been charged for that. The DOJ only sought 30 months imprisonment for Vane, while his lawyers asked for time served—arguing, among other factors, that the ricin wasn’t an active bioweapon.
“The FBI did find ricin, but only because Mr. Vane had done nothing to dispose of the substance in his laundry attic room even though he was well-aware he was being investigated by federal law enforcement authorities. He had created the ricin approximately a year earlier and had not touched it since,” they said—revealing that Vane had tested the ricin on his own skin.
“It was in a closed test tube in a box high on a shelf in the laundry attic room. Mr. Vane forgot about the concrete-like substance because he never intended to use it for any purpose and certainly not to hurt anyone.”
Vane only served several months in prison before he was released on bail, allowing him to stay at home and take work as a plumber.
According to Fischer, Vane will also serve three years supervised release, four months home detention, and pay a $5000 fine.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
