Chad Edward Keith, 42, of Colorado Springs and Cotopaxi, Colo., was sentenced late last week to 27 months in prison for firearms possession after having been convicted of a felony, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced late last week.
While executing a search warrant in Keith’s Colorado Springs home, investigators found Nazi propaganda, as well as a flier on which he drew Stars of David on the foreheads of U.S. senators and representatives, per the U.S. attorney’s office.
“The placement of the Stars of David were suggestive of firearms bullseye targets,” it stated.
In both residences, investigators found 11 guns, including rifles and a shotgun, as well as “various paraphernalia and propaganda related to white supremacy and Nazism.” Keith “had been convicted of a felony explosives offense, which is a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year,” per the U.S. attorney’s office.
“Coloradans can rest easier knowing that a dangerous person is behind bars,” said Cole Finegan, the U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we remain committed to making sure that violent felons are prohibited from possessing weapons.”
Mark Michalek, the FBI Denver special agent in charge, stated that the bureau is committed to keeping communities safe.
“This commitment includes ensuring that individuals who are prohibited from owning firearms do not acquire them,” he said. “Addressing community safety concerns is a priority for the FBI, and we will continue to work with our partners to remove illegal weapons from the hands of offenders.”
Keith had been aiming to build a “white private community” in Cotopaxi “to teach weapons skills, white supremacist ideology and antisemitic curriculum to teenagers,” the Denver Post reported, citing an FBI complaint. The 2.6-acre property reportedly included a 10,000-gallon water cistern, a 462-foot-deep well and underground bunkers, “one of which can allegedly protect from an electromagnetic blast.”
In 1999, he built five homemade bombs and placed them in his Coushatta, La. high school. At least one exploded, damaging a bathroom. After pleading guilty, he received a two-year suspended sentence.
After he serves his current 27-month sentence, Keith will be under supervised release for three years. He was ordered to turn over all 11 guns and the ammunition.
