South Bay Man Linked To White Supremacist Group Sentenced To Federal Prison: DOJ

TORRANCE, CA — A South Bay man linked to a now-defunct white supremacist group was sentenced Thursday to just over 3 years in federal prison, according to the United States Attorney's Office.

Torrance resident Robert Boman, 32, was found guilty by a jury in March of conspiracy to violate the anti-riot act and rioting, according to authorities. On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced him to 37 months in federal prison, according to the United States Attorney's Office.

Boman was the last defendant convicted in a federal case against members of the white supremacist group Rise Against Movement.

The 32-year-old and his other co-defendants were accused of inciting riots at political rallies in Southern California in the months leading up to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Virginia. The other co-defendants have since been sentenced for their roles.

Prosecutors told the jury that starting sometime around February 2017, Boman participated in a racist organization that presented itself on social media as a "combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist identity movement."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, instead, described the group as a "racist fight club."

The defendant and his associates used the internet to post videos and pictures of themselves conducting training in hand-to-hand combat, interspersed with pictures and video clips of themselves assaulting people at political events, accompanied by messages in support of a white supremacist ideology, evidence showed.

City News Service contributed to this report.