Neo-Nazi Prison Gang Member Sentenced for Selling Pipe Bombs

Tampa, Florida – U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore sentenced Marc A. Balentine (42, St. Petersburg) to seven years and three months in federal prison for selling unregistered destructive devices to undercover agents.

Marc A. Balentine pled guilty on January 28, 2011.

According to court documents, Balentine and his co-defendant met with undercover agents and a confidential informant about other criminal conduct. During the midst of those discussions, the confidential informant and undercover agents asked Balentine if he could provide them with pipe bombs. Over a period of time, Balentine provided undercover agents with five pipe bombs. An explosives expert with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) found that the pipe bombs that Balentine provided were destructive devices that were capable of causing serious physical injury or death. Balentine is a member of European Kindred – a white supremacist prison and street gang that was founded in the prisons of Oregon.

This case was investigated by ATF and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shauna S. Hale and is a part of the United States Department of Justice’s Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative.