A Montreal neo-Nazi was sentenced to 15 months in jail and three years of probation for inciting hatred against Jewish people last Friday. Gabriel Sohier-Chaput was on trial for a 2017 article that called for "non-stop Nazism, everywhere."

But that was only one of hundreds of anti-semitic articles he wrote for the Daily Stormer. He was the hate site’s second most prolific author. 

Though he wrote under the pen name Charles Zeiger, his true identity was unmasked in 2018 by journalists for the Montreal Gazette. That reporting called Sohier-Chaput “one of North America’s most influential neo-Nazis.”

Jon Milton is one of the journalists behind the original exposé. Although 15 months may not sound like much, Milton says it's one of the harshest sentences in the history of this crime.

"It appears to me the only reason why Sohier-Chaput got a sentence as harsh as he did... is because of the judge on the case."

Judge Manlio Del Negro rejected a deal of only three months' jail time, and two years' probation, recommended by Crown and defense attorneys in July.

Sohier-Chaput's lawyers tried to portray him as a man just pushing the envelope a bit too far, but his actions tell a different story, says Milton, as Sohier-Chaput had his hand in more serious Nazi forums, as well as hate-based organizing in Canada and the US.

"One of the reasons why I began to investigate Sohier-Chaput is because of his participation in the hate rally and the race riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017."

Listen to the interview below: