FORT WORTH, Texas — Seven more convicted members of a North Texas Antifa terror cell were sentenced Wednesday in federal court, less than two weeks after one of the convicts allegedly attempted to kill herself while in custody.
U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman and Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor handed down the sentences in Fort Worth following last week’s 450-year prison sentence, a historic punishment of the Antifa group’s first batch of trial defendants.
With the exception of Ines Soto, all of Wednesday’s defendants had accepted plea agreements before trial. They received the following sentences in federal prison:
Ines Houston Soto — 50 years
John Philip Thomas — 9 years, 2 months
Rebecca Deyalyn Morgan — 15 years
Nathan Josiah Baumann — 22 months
Lynette Read Sharp — 9 years, 2 months
Joy Abigail Gibson (trans nonbinary female who goes by “Rowan”) — 15 years
Seth Edison Sikes — six years
Other than Nathan Baumann, all of them will also have two years of supervised release after serving their sentences. Baumann will have one year of supervised release.
Susan Elaine Kent was supposed to be sentenced, but her court date was moved to next week.
Ahead of sentencing, Ngo Comment can exclusively report that Rebecca Morgan had allegedly attempted to harm or kill herself while in custody in Wichita County, Texas. According to a source not authorized to speak on record, Morgan had consumed pills. It’s unclear how she was able to obtain the pills. Wichita County officials told Ngo Comment they had no records or information to provide.
Joy Gibson is the female romantic partner of the cell’s ringleader, Benjamin Hanil “Champagne” Song. They both identify as trans nonbinary. At least a quarter of the 16 convicts identify as trans. They are all being housed in the facility matching their biological sex.
In front of Judge Pittman, Baumann’s attorney told the court that his client fears violent reprisal for cooperating with the prosecution. This journalist’s reporting was cited. Many Antifa-aligned accounts on social media have been threatening violence against some of the defendants for months for testifying at trial.
Baumann cried and apologized in his statement to the court. It is assumed that he received the lightest prison sentence, only 22 months, because of his strong cooperation in providing extensive evidence of the conspiracy to the prosecution.
Lynette Sharp, an anti-Christian activist, also apologized.
Seth Sikes disavowed Song, his former cell and its Antifa ideology in his statement to the court.
John Thomas provided a written statement to the court expressing regret for his actions in helping Song evade arrest but did not read it aloud himself.
Ines Soto was convicted at trial in March of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, using and carrying an explosive and rioting. He is the spouse of Elizabeth Soto, who was also sentenced to 50 years in prison last week.
The other six each pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists, admitting in signed factual stipulations that they organized behind an Antifa ideology and participated in supporting the July 4, 2025 attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
Four of the defendants also cooperated with federal prosecutors and testified against their former comrades during the twelve-day trial earlier this year.
The sentencing follows last week’s punishment of eight co-defendants, who received a combined 450 years in prison. Ringleader Benjamin Song was sentenced to 100 years after being convicted of attempted murder for shooting Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross in the neck during the attack. Maricela Rueda received 70 years. Cameron Arnold, Bradford Morris, Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten and Elizabeth Soto each received 50 years, while Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years.
Federal prosecutors proved that the defendants were members of a militant Antifa cell that spent months preparing the armed ambush on the ICE detention facility. Trial evidence showed members trained with firearms, communicated through encrypted Signal chats, stockpiled more than fifty firearms, assembled in black bloc clothing, and used fireworks to lure officers from the facility before Song opened fire.
Although most federal sentencing proceedings are now complete, the criminal cases are far from over.
All sixteen federally convicted defendants still face separate state prosecutions in Johnson County, Texas. Those state cases include charges of terrorism, aiding in the commission of terrorism, aggravated assault of a public servant, smuggling of a person, engaging in organized criminal activity (the Texas state version of RICO) and more.
Prosecutors have also expanded the investigation by charging six additional suspects accused of helping Song evade capture during his eleven-day manhunt after the shooting.
Federal trial defendants:
1. Benjamin Hanil “Champagne” Song (trans)
2. Cameron Arnold (trans; “Autumn Hill”)
3. Bradford Morris (trans; “Meagan Elizabeth Morris”)
4. Zachary Evetts
5. Savanna Batten
6. Maricela Rueda
7. Elizabeth Soto
8. Ines Soto
9. Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada
Federal plea defendants:
10. Seth Sikes
11. Joy Abigail Gibson (trans; “Rowan”)
12. Lynette Read Sharp
13. Nathan Baumann
14. John Philip Thomas
15. Rebecca Morgan
16. Susan Elaine Kent
Additional state defendants:
17. Dario Sanchez
18. Melanie Lynn Estes
19. Andrew Tyler Smith
20. Steven Thomas Reyna
21. Janette Goering
The federal convictions are also being appealed. Savanna Sue Batten, who was sentenced to 50 years last week, is being represented by a far-left legal nonprofit. A notice to appeal was filed for Batten on June 30.
During the trial, Baumann testified that Cameron Arnold, one of trans defendants known as “Autumn Hill,” was the leader of a “sex cult.” Arnold is believed to have belonged to the same trans Dallas commune with Bradford Morris, another trans defendant known as “Meagan Elizabeth Morris.” They referred to one another as “wives.” That commune functioned as one of the secret bases for the North Texas Antifa cell.
Left-wing media, politicians and activists continue to argue the shooting constituted protected political protest rather than terrorism, arguments that jurors unanimously rejected after viewing extensive evidence exhibits and hearing testimony from dozens of law enforcement officers, cooperating defendants and expert witnesses.
In reaction to the sentencing, Antifa and their supporters on social media, particularly Bluesky, have been issuing death threats against the judges.
I guess consequences can be demoralizing once you realize they’re real and you have to suffer them.
Isn't it also a federal crime to post death threats targeting judges? Thanks for your intrepid reporting on these criminals, Andy! This reminds me of the Bader-Meinhof gang in West Germany in the 1970s.