More News

The Bethesda man federal prosecutors say was plotting to kill President Barack Obama was sentenced Tuesday to 61 months in prison at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

Collin McKenzie-Gude, 20, was arrested in 2008 after a police raid on his parents' home turned up more than 50 pounds of chemicals, assault rifles, a school faculty list, a map of Camp David marked with a presidential motorcade route, two bulletproof vests loaded with armor-piercing ammunition and a document explaining how to kill someone at 200 meters.

McKenzie-Gude pleaded guilty Sept. 23 to possession of a destructive device.

His attorneys tried to prove during the sentencing hearing, which began Thursday, that McKenzie-Gude had an overactive imagination and an obsession with the military.

His attorney, Todd Bussert, said his client's former friend, Gaithersburg resident Patrick Yevsukov — a key witness for prosecutors who pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of destructive devices — was the one "driving the train."

During his sentencing, Judge Peter J. Messitte told McKenzie-Gude, "This is about you and your responsibility. There is nothing that Patrick Yevsukov has done to diminish your responsibility in this case."

McKenzie-Gude cried as Messitte sentenced him to 61 months in prison. He said the last 18 months in jail have been the worst months of his life.

"Worst of all, I've been torn apart from ... from my family who loves me very dearly," McKenzie-Gude said. "The saddest part of this situation is that my own actions are responsible for the situation that now stands before me. I can't tell you how sorry I am and how much I regret those actions, sir."

After the sentencing, his attorney, Steven Kupferberg, said the alleged plot to harm Obama "wasn't real in anybody's mind."

"This case should send a message to children and adults," said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. "This is not something you joke about, particularly when you have an arsenal of illegal weapons in your bedroom."

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly spelled Todd Bussert's name.