On May 27, 2003, white supremacist Russell C. Seace, Jr., accused of plotting to kill an incarcerated Hispanic man in April, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, to lesser charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Seace, 33, was living at the Sea Crest Motel in Hampton, New Hampshire, when he was arrested on April 15 by FBI agents and local police officers. According to an FBI affidavit, Seace had agreed to kill a Hispanic prisoner at an undisclosed facility who had supposedly assaulted a white inmate. Seace had allegedly accepted a gun, ammunition and a $500 down payment from a cooperating witness.

According to court records, Seace sent a letter to the white inmate, saying, "Let me know the name of the person that jumped you." In the same letter, Seace also threatened revenge against the Hispanic man's family. The letter was signed "88," which is often found on hate group literature. The eighth letter of the alphabet is "H," and two eights signifies "HH," shorthand for the Nazi greeting, "Heil Hitler."

At the time of his arrest, Seace was the Eastern Regional Director of the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations, headquartered in northern Idaho and led by white supremacist Richard Butler. The Aryan Nations' New Hampshire Web site, which was recently taken down, listed Seace as the pastor of its Eastern Regional Office and as the contact person for the site.

Seace himself previously served time in prison for burglary. In 2001, while an inmate at the Lakes Region Correctional Facility in Laconia, New Hampshire, Seace filed a federal civil action against the New Hampshire Department of Corrections because prison officials had confiscated white supremacist literature he had stored in his prison locker. Seace claimed that prohibiting inmates from having such material violated his constitutional rights. In October 2001, the U.S. District Court in New Hampshire ruled against him.

According to the plea bargain, Seace will serve seven years in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph N. LaPlante said prosecutors are satisfied with the deal.