MILWAUKEE – A man who admitted hiding deadly cyanide in a Chicago (search) subway tunnel in 2001 was sentenced to nearly 21 years in prison Thursday for conspiring to knock out power lines, burn buildings and damage computers in Wisconsin.
Joseph Konopka, 27, who calls himself "Dr. Chaos," (search) will serve the first 11 years of the sentence at the same time he finishes the 13-year prison term from Illinois. He will serve about 23 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman also ordered him to pay more than $435,000 in restitution to various victims.
Authorities said more than 50 acts in various Wisconsin counties affected more than 30,000 power customers and caused more than $800,000 in damages.
Prosecutors said Konopka was the self-appointed leader of a loose affiliation called "The Realm of Chaos," which recruited youths to engage in property damage.
Konopka was sent to prison last year for taking two bottles of cyanide (search) from an abandoned chemical warehouse and hiding them in the subway. He said he had considered using the cyanide to commit suicide.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox