Ex-manitoba reservist should get 25 years in prison: U.S. prosecutors

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — U.S. prosecutors are making their case for why a former Manitoba Armed Forces reservist with ties to a white supremacist group should be sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Patrik Mathews, 28, pleaded guilty earlier this year to four charges, including illegally transporting a firearm and obstruction of justice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom wants U.S. District Court Justice Theodore Chuang to apply a “terrorism enhancement” to the sentence because his motives included attacking federal officials and facilities.

Mathews' lawyer, Joseph Balter, insists his client never intended to commit any acts of terrorism and deserves only 33 months behind bars.

Mathews and two American co-accused were arrested last year by the FBI.

Prosecutors argue Mathews was working alongside a white-supremacist group called The Base to start a civil war by killing on a large scale.