North Carolina Man Sentenced To 78 Months For Attempted Possession Of Radioactive Material

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. ordered today Bryant Riyanto Budi, 28, of Matthews, North Carolina, to serve 78 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release, for attempted possession of radioactive material with intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to another person. 

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina, John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Charlotte Division, and Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas made the announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, from April 22, 2018, to June 1, 2018, Budi attempted to possess radioactive material, and did so with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to another person. Court documents show that Budi contacted an FBI online covert employee via the internet to purchase a lethal dose of a radioactive substance.  In his communications with the covert employee, Budi expressed his intent to use the radioactive substance to kill an unnamed individual.  On May 31, 2018, a package containing an inert substitute for the radioactive material ordered by Budi was delivered to an address in Charlotte as instructed by Budi.  Budi was arrested on June 1, 2018, after he came into possession of the package, and pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2018. Separately, Budi also contacted an HSI undercover agent (UCA) via the internet and hired the UCA to murder a specified victim.

In making today’s announcement Assistant Attorney General Demers and U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI in Charlotte and supporting FBI field offices; the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate in Washington, D.C.; HSI in Buffalo, New York and Charlotte; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Gleason of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution, assisted by Trial Attorney Bridget Behling, of the National Security Division.