Violent FBI informant active in extremist groups should get up to 30 months in prison: government

The government is seeking a sentence of 24- to 30 months in prison for a North Carolina man with an extensive history of involvement with violent, far-right groups — and who was caught with a semi-automatic rifle as a felon during a traffic stop in western New York last year.

As previously reported by Raw Story, Michael Alan Jones was active with the the Base, a neo-Nazi terror group, and the white nationalist group Patriot Front. He stormed the U.S. Capitol with the Proud Boys on Jan. 6. Jones also worked as an FBI informant for at least some period of time overlapping with his activity with far-right groups, spanning from 2018 to the time of his arrest in March 2022.

Raw Story had previously revealed that Jones was an FBI informant, a fact that the Jones' lawyer confirmed this week in a court filing.

The government’s recommended sentence on a federal firearms charge was first reported by the Buffalo News. Jones is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Rochester, N.Y., on Sept. 27.

Jones’ lawyer, Steven Slawinski, acknowledged that while Jones was a former member of the Proud Boys, he has reformed himself.

“Since that time, he has changed his thinking and actually worked as a paid FBI informant who infiltrated the Charlotte chapter of the Proud Boys and gave agents valuable information about the organization," Slawinski wrote.

Jones was arrested by Washington, D.C, municipal police for curfew violation on Jan. 6, 2021, but the charge was later dismissed. And while Jones’ participation in a battle with police on the west plaza and presence inside the U.S. Capitol has been documented by online sleuths, he has faced no federal charges to date specifically for his actions that day.

Neo-Nazi ties

The government’s statement on sentencing factors in Jones’ case contains no acknowledgement of his history as an FBI informant or his presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. The statement also omits any mention of Jones’ past involvement with the Base, Patriot Front or the Proud Boys, but notes that a North Carolina man who purchase a firearm for Jones told an FBI agent that Jones told him that he “knew people affiliated with a neo-Nazi group.”

A presentence investigation report filed by the court on Monday remains under seal. The sentencing statement filed by Jones’ lawyer on the same day references an allegation in the report that the defendant is a “white nationalist.” Responding to the allegation, Jones’ lawyer acknowledged his client’s past membership in the Proud Boys, adding, “At the time he joined, he was a teenager and was influenced by the internet and his own youthful anger.”

Jones is requesting a sentence of time served. His lawyer noted that Jones served more than six months in custody before being released due to an intramuscular leg wound that repeatedly became infected requiring hospitalization. Last December, after pleading guilty, a federal judge released Jones to home custody in North Carolina, where he has been living with his parents for the past nine months.

Jones’ sentencing document states that his leg became infected in December 2021 while he was hiking the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.

That assertion is false: Leaked chats released by Unicorn Riot, show that Jones, who posted under the username “Adam NC,” was hospitalized in Virginia in December 2021 while traveling home from a Patriot Front rally in Washington, D.C.

Slawinski, Jones' lawyer, declined to comment further to Raw Story on the claim that Jones was hiking the Appalachian Trail when his leg became infected

In recommending a 24- to 30-month sentence, the government argues “the nature and circumstances of the offense are plainly serious.”

“The crime to which the defendant, a two-time convicted felon, pleaded guilty involved the possession of a semiautomatic rifle, as well as a quantity of ammunition,” the government wrote. “The offense involves deception by the defendant in acquiring this rifle. It also involves deception by the defendant in acquiring the ammunition which law enforcement found in the car.”

The government filing notes that when Jones and an 18-year-old passenger were pulled over by sheriff’s deputies in rural Genesee County in March 2022, they observed “several knives, military surplus gear, and two compound bows inside the vehicle.”

On the floor of the front passenger seat, they found a backpack with bolt cutters protruding. They also found pepper spray and ammunition in the car.

After discovering the plates had been switched and impounding the car, according to the government, authorities later found more items: handheld radios, additional knives, the Army Tactical Combat Casualty Care handbook and a Palmetto State Armory AR-15 rifle.

Neither Jones nor the government has definitively explained what he and the 18-year-old passenger were doing in western New York driving a car loaded with weapons and other assorted tactical gear.

The government’s sentencing document states that during his post-arrest interview, Jones declined to discuss his relationship with the passenger or the rifle.

But according to the government, a subsequent investigation by the FBI determined that Jones accompanied the 18-year-old to a sporting goods store in Batavia, N.Y., where the 18-year-old purchased the ammunition.

Jones said in his sentencing statement that he “never intended to transfer the firearm or use it for any illegal purpose.”

Jones’ sentencing statement is accompanied by a three-paragraph letter that includes an apology, without specifically addressing either his weapons violation of history of involvement with extremist groups.

“I have had time to reflect on what circumstances led me [to your courtroom] and what thought processes led me to believe I was doing the right thing and I can see now that I was simply wrong, there is no justifying it,” Jones wrote. “We have laws in place for the betterment of society and it is not up to me or anyone on my level to try and decide which ones are to be followed or not. I regret the steps I took that led us to being in my position today, but I can honestly tell you that I have learned from my mistakes, and I have no desire or intention of ever putting myself in a situation to end up in any situation like this again.”