Red Mass plotter gets 70-month sentence

Louis Geri, from Vineland, New Jersey, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after bringing more than 100 homemade explosive devices to the steps of Washington’s Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle before the Red Mass. He was arrested Oct. 5, 2025, as police cleared the area. He had camped in a tent with the devices and a nine-page list of demands that included money, an expatriation flight to Japan, and removal of Arizona from the United States by the Supreme Court. He pleaded guilty in March to illegal possession of a destructive device and extortion. Judge Randolph Moss called it an extremely serious offense and said the threat of violence was serious even if carried out in a bizarre manner. Prosecutors wrote that if demands were unmet, innocent people would die and landmarks would be destroyed. Defense attorney Elizabeth Mullin wrote the conduct stemmed from a treatable bipolar condition after he stopped medication, not malice. Moss weighed public danger against Geri’s mental health history. The joint recommendation range was 5 years 10 months to 7 years 3 months. No justices attended last year’s ceremony.