MADISON, WIS. - Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that a Town of Madison, Wisconsin man has been charged with attempting to possess radioactive material with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury. Jeremy J. Ryan, 30, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Madison that was unsealed today.
The complaint charges Ryan with attempting to purchase a radioactive substance online. The complaint alleges that Ryan indicated he wanted to use the radioactive substance to kill an unnamed individual. According to the complaint, the potential seller of the substance was actually a covert employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A package containing an inert substitute for the radioactive material was delivered to an address in Madison and picked up by Ryan, who subsequently was arrested by law enforcement agents in Black Earth, Wisconsin yesterday.
Ryan will make an initial appearance in federal court in Madison today at 11:30 a.m.
If convicted, Ryan would face a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
The charge against Ryan is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Dane County Narcotics Task Force, Dane County Sheriff’s Office, and Town of Madison Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Madison and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice are handling the prosecution.
You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
