A woman who joined a neo-Nazi to plan an attack to take out the electrical grid around Baltimore by attacking transfer stations was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday, more than the term recommended by federal prosecutors, WMAR ABC-2 in Baltimore reports.
Working with neo-Nazi Brandon Clint Russell, a Florida man, whom she met while both were in prison, 36-year-old Sarah Beth Clendaniel cooperated with investigators in Russell’s prosecution. In February 2023, the pair planned to use guns and explosives to take a number of BGE power stations offline, a plan that could have knocked out power for more than a million people in and around Baltimore.
“Those who seek to attack our country’s critical infrastructure will face the full force of the United States Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Sarah Beth Clendaniel sought to ‘completely destroy’ the city of Baltimore by targeting five power substations as a means of furthering her violent white supremacist ideology. She will now spend the next 18 years in federal prison. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively counter, disrupt, and prosecute those who seek to launch these kinds of hate-fueled attacks that target our critical infrastructure, endanger entire cities, and threaten our national security.”