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Coast Guard Lt. Accused Of Terror Plot Indicted On Multiple Charges

GREENBELT, Md. (WJZ) —  A former Lieutenant with the U.S. Coast Guard is being charged after authorities found illegal controlled substances and firearms in his home.

According to the indictment and other court documents, 49-year-old Christopher Hasson is charged with the illegal possession of two silencers that neither bore a serial number or were registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

"I think it's a big deal," Robert Hur, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, said. "Anytime you have someone who has weapons and there is evidence they have the intent on using them."

Judge Orders Coast Guard Lt. Accused Of Terror Plot To Be Held, Gives 14 Days To File More Charges

The indictment also alleges that Hasson is an illegal user and addict to the opioid analgesic, tramadol, which prohibits him from possessing the seventeen guns that were found in his home Feb. 15.

The search resulted in the recovery of seven rifles, two shotguns, four pistols, two revolvers, one assembled firearm silencer, and another one that was disassembled.

"We believe that he does present a threat to the safety of our community," Hur said.

If convicted, Hasson faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the three charges related to firearms and the firearm silences, and a maximum of one year in prison for possession of tramadol.

"We are not a country that criminalizes people for their darkest thoughts and web searches," an attorney defending Hasson, said. "It is not a crime to write about a doomsday scenario."

Hasson will have an arraignment which is where he will enter a guilty or not guilty plea.

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