SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Federal prosecutors recommended a 30-month prison sentence for former San Francisco political consultant Ryan Kelly Chamberlain II, accused of buying chemical weapons and bomb components on the Internet black market.
On Tuesday, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a biological toxin and a firearm with the serial number removed. All other charges were dropped.
In a plea agreement made public Wednesday, Chamberlain detailed his dark web purchase of two vials of the biological toxin abrin concealed in flashlights. Chamberlain also bought a .22 caliber Derringer pistol.
The agreement also lists a myriad of other items seized law enforcement searches of Chamberlain's San Francisco apartment between May 31, 2014 and June 12, 2014: a jar containing a circuit board receiver, a rocket motor, screws and ball bearings, sodium cyanide, syringes, and castor beans - from which the poison ricin is derived.
Chamberlain, 44, has been in jail since his arrest in June 2014. The FBI had him under surveillance for weeks and found records of poisons purchased on the dark Web and shipped to his apartment.
Agents hunted Chamberlain for three days after he fled, and eventually apprehended him in a San Francisco park. He was facing a maximum sentence of 10 years.
In addition to the 30-month sentence, the government is also recommending three years of supervised release as well as limits to and monitoring of his Internet use.
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