Robert DoggartA Tennessee man accused of planning an assault on a small Muslim community in New York now faces more federal charges.
Since January – when a federal magistrate judge ordered Robert Doggart to report for mental health testing – prosecutors re-presented his case to a grand jury. On Tuesday, jurors returned a four-count true bill that replaces the original one.
In July 2015, a grand jury indicted Doggart on one charge of solicitation to commit a civil rights violation. Authorities said Doggart, a Signal Mountain resident of Sequatchie County, Tenn., and a 2014 congressional candidate, spent months gathering weapons and plotting an assault on the Muslim community called Islamberg outside of Hancock, N.Y.
Federal agents became aware of his plan in early 2015. They began surveillance in March, took him into custody in April, and drew up a plea agreement in which Doggart admitted to the plot later that month.
But U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier chose not to accept the plea until prosecutors produced briefs that showed Doggart was a true threat, records show.