Wisconsin man receives two-year prison sentence for intending to create chemical weapon

WISCONSIN (CIVIC MEDIA) – A Wisconsin man has been sentenced to 29 months in prison after an FBI investigation revealed that the man harbored ingredients that could be used to create a chemical weapon and had threatened to commit a large-scale attack.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) press release detailed that the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin accepted the guilty plea of suspect James Morgan, formerly known as Karactus Blome, who resided in Janesville, WI. The man is charged with possession of chemical weapons precursors not intended for peaceful purposes.

“The defendant’s conduct posed a serious risk to others and the community as a whole,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Frohling. “This individual spent substantial time discussing and constructing weapons and expressing opposition to law enforcement and individuals whose race, ethnic origin, or backgrounds differed from his. I commend the hard work and collaboration of everyone involved in seeking to hold him accountable for his criminal activity.”

Court documents revealed that the FBI, as well as the Janesville and Whitewater Police Departments, had executed a search warrant on a storage unit Morgan owned in Whitewater, WI in December of 2023, where authorities found the chemicals. After laboratory testing, the FBI determined that the chemicals Morgan stored could produce a large amount of chlorine that could result in serious health effects, including death.

Morgan had described himself as a weapons designer who does not need a conventional weapon. The Wisconsin man displayed the dangerous chemicals in a video, claiming they are used to make a lot of chlorine very quickly. In messages Morgan sent in 2022, he stated that the chemicals he had were “scary,” and said that, because the chemicals can create a substantial amount of the gas, it can be “effective if your enemy is not ready for it.”

In additional messages dating back to 2023, the man threatened the chlorine gas can be used against around 20 government agents.

“Mr. Morgan obtained commercially available chemicals with an intent to manufacture chemical weapons which could have had a devastating impact to citizens and law enforcement officers in Wisconsin,” said FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle.  “Morgan is already serving a two-year sentence for possessing destructive devices. The Milwaukee Field Office of the FBI will continue to work aggressively with our partners to prevent the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction.”

Morgan is currently serving a two-year sentence for possessing destructive devices.