A federal judge sentenced Louis Geri, 42, of Vineland, New Jersey, to 70 months in prison for threatening to detonate more than 100 homemade explosive devices outside St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., according to a Justice Department announcement. Geri pleaded guilty in March to one count of Hobbs Act extortion and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, specifically a destructive device.
Prosecutors said Geri rode his motorcycle to the cathedral on the evening of Oct. 4, 2025, set up a tent on the front steps, and assembled the devices from materials including nitromethane, magnesium, charcoal, and thermite. The Red Mass, attended by Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, and other senior officials, was scheduled for the following morning. When police approached around 5 a.m., Geri refused to leave and threatened to throw one of the devices into the street, warning that "several of your people are gonna die from one of these" unless federal agents came to negotiate.
Geri's nine-page list of demands included cash payments, arrest warrants for elected officials and judges, and a request that the Supreme Court "remove Arizona from the United States," declare it a "foreign enemy," and restrict the movements of its residents. He also sought an expatriation flight to Japan and made several religious demands, including excommunicating Arizona-based Catholics and barring women from certain church leadership roles. The case was prosecuted by Josh Satter and announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.