RICHMOND, Va. -- U.S. Magistrate Judge Roderick C. Young ordered Charles D. Halderman, 30, remain behind bars following a probable cause hearing held at the federal court building in downtown Richmond Friday. Halderman is one of three men arrested after the FBI said it foiled a plot to shoot up and bomb local synagogues and black churches.
Judge Young cited Haderman's history of violent crimes, convictions on drug-related charges, previous substance-abuse, and his association with the Aryan Brotherhood white-supremacist group as reasons to keep him behind bars until the grand jury met next month to discuss other charges. Right now, Haderman is only charged with conspiring to rob a Richmond area jeweler.
Prosecutors allege that Halderman, Robert Doyle of Chesterfield County, and Ronald Chaney of Henrico planned to use the money to buy and stockpile weapons. The money would also be used to buy land that would be used to train for a race war they hoped to inspire.
Ronald Beasley Chaney III, Robert Doyle and Charles Halderman
The judge made a similar ruling for both Doyle and Chaney during a hearing on Thursday.
During Thursday's hearing, it was revealed someone tipped off the FBI about the plan. When the FBI learned Doyle contacted a silver broker on Craigslist, the FBI took over account and learned more about the group's plan. Attorneys for Doyle and Chaney seemed to indicate the FBI kept encouraging the men to move ahead with the plot.
"I'm sure the defense is going to be looking at a potential entrapment defense," CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said.
The men seemed in interested in buying multiple silencers and had four bullet proof vests between the two of them, prosecutors said.
Specifics about the plot were not discussed during Thursday's hearing. The next step will be a grand jury hearing on December 1. There, new charges could be filed. So far the pair have only been charged with trying to get access to guns after being convicted of a felony.
"When they go to the grand jury, the law enforcement officers go into a secret room and explain the case and issue indictments," Stone explained.
