A former Coast Guard lieutenant accused by prosecutors of plotting to kill members of Congress to advance a white nationalist agenda is asking an appellate court to vacate his guilty plea after a judge ruled that his crime was an act of terrorism.
Christopher Hasson of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty in 2019 to firearms offenses. But at his sentencing hearing, the judge applied a “terrorism enhancement” that resulted in a 13-year prison sentence. Without the terrorism enhancement, sentencing guidelines would have resulted in a term of about four years.