Federal officials have announced that a man who tried to buy a “chemical weapon” on the dark web, a purchase that could have been used to kill “hundreds,” is going to prison.
According to the Department of Justice, the defendant in the case, Jason William Seisser, 46, of Columbia, Missouri, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole.
Siesser had pleaded guilty to a count of attempting to acquire a chemical weapon as well as one count of aggravated identity theft.
Court documents explain: “Siesser admitted that he attempted to acquire a chemical weapon on two occasions between June 14 and Aug. 23, 2018. He provided a shipping address in the name of a juvenile, whose identity he used without authorization, to place the orders for a highly toxic chemical in amounts capable of killing many people. Siesser paid for the chemical weapon with the digital cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin.”
The DOJ said the motive apparently was resentment and anger over the end of a relationship.
“Writings located within the home articulated Siesser’s heartache, anger and resentment over a breakup, and a desire for the person who caused the heartache to die,” the DOJ explained.
The DOJ said Siesser had ordered two 10 mL units of a chemical, not identified, in July 2018 and paid with bitcoin. The seller didn’t ship the chemical and Siesser contacted him, saying, “I plan to use it soon after I receive it.”
Weeks later, he ordered three units of the chemical, again paying with bitcoin, about $150. The purchases could have been used to kill hundreds, the government reported.
“A controlled delivery of a package that contained an inert substance was made to Siesser’s residence on Aug. 23, 2018. Siesser believed the package contained the chemical weapon he had ordered, signed for the package and took it inside the residence.”
The package was found later, during a search, on a shelf in his garage next to boxes containing the toxic cadmium arsenide as well as hydrochloric acid.
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