Three neo-Nazis have been jailed for their part in a murder plot against an Antifa activist and his wife that included butchering a lamb on the couple’s property.

Luke Austin Lane, 23, and Jacob Kaderli, 21 were jailed for six and 13 years respectively at a court in the US state of Georgia while Michael Helterbrand, 27, was sentenced to 20 years in prison several days before. The trio were jailed for conspiracy to commit murder.

The defendants were members of The Base, an international neo-Nazi group that was formed by Russia-based Rinaldo Nazzaro, a former Homeland Security analyst and Pentagon contractor, in 2018.

In autumn 2019, the three men hatched a plan to kill an Antifa activist who they knew lived close to Lane.

However, they hired a fourth man to take part in the plan to ambush the left-wing activist who was actually an undercover FBI agent.

The plot involved ambushing the target in his home at night, shooting him and his wife dead, and then burning down the house to cover their tracks, according to prosecutors.

The FBI agent pretended to be an ageing biker and hardcore racist and he managed to log the group’s activities and plot to kill the family.

The FBI then arrested the three men during a national crackdown on The Base in January 2020.

Nazzaro claimed that the jailed group members are “persecuted political prisoners” who “were not involved in bona-fide attack planning” against the Antifa activist.

However, Judge John Niedrach called the case a “tragedy on many levels”.

Intelligence analyst Joshua Fisher-Birch said: “Extreme right-wing violence continues to be a problem in the US, with numbers increasing in 2020.

“In this case, the defendants were arrested before they could commit a particularly horrendous politically motivated murder, but it’s important to note that the threat remains.

“Similar white supremacist groups and networks that aspire to commit acts of violence also continue to seek recruits and organise clandestinely.”

According to local media, the three defendants were also involved with sacrificing a stolen lamb during a gang ritual on Lane’s property that following a weekend of paramilitary training.

Animal cruelty charges were dropped against Kaderli and Lane, however, two other The Base members are due in court for their role in the alleged sacrifice.