A man accused of acquiring a device intended to kill Muslim people with radiation will spend eight years in prison, CBS News reports.
Eric Feight, 57, of upstate New York, was arrested in 2013 along with Glendon Scott Crawford, and both were charged with providing material support to terrorists. The men wanted to build a device with which they could discretely zap people with lethal doses of radiation. The device they built was ultimately inoperable and no one was injured. Feight was sentenced Wednesday in federal court.
The two men believed people would fall ill and die days after being secretly exposed.
"Mr. Crawford hated Muslims and other politically liberal people," Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Belliss told jurors, according to CBS. In a taped conversation with an FBI informant, Crawford said, "I think Islam is an opportunist infection of DNA" and "Radiation poisoning is a beautiful thing."
Prosecutors called Crawford "cold" and "calculated." Crawford had singled out specific targets, which included a mosque and the New York governor's mansion.
Crawford worked as an engineer for GE, according to NBC News.
"This investigation revealed unthinkable plotting and planning of terrorist activity that targeted unsuspecting innocent citizens,” New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said in 2013.
The non-functioning device was ultimately delivered to the two men by federal agents.
