A Concord man who is allegedly a Nazi sympathizer has been charged in federal court in San Francisco with lying about his mental health status on a background check application in his bid to join the U.S. Army in 2017.
Ross Anthony Farca, 23, was charged in a criminal complaint filed last Tuesday and unsealed Friday with one count of making a false statement to a government agency by failing to disclose he had received mental health treatment.
At a court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim on Friday, he was ordered held in custody until a further detention hearing before Kim on Tuesday.
FBI special agent Tyler Esswein said in an affidavit filed with the complaint that Farca was in regular contact with a psychiatrist beginning in 2011. He said Farca was admitted to the Army in 2017, but was arrested for assaulting a fellow trainee during basic training, was admitted to a psychiatric unit for evaluation and then was discharged.
In June, Concord police allegedly learned that Farca was using the screen name of "Adolf Hitler" and making online threats to kill Jews. A semi-automatic assault rifle was found in a search of his home, according to the affidavit.
The false statements charge carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, if Farca is convicted.
