Madison man arrested for trying to buy radioactive material will stay in jail

In court on Monday, a judge decided to keep Jeremy Ryan behind bars. Ryan was arrested and charged with attempting to possess a radioactive material with the intent to cause death or cause serious injury.

The judge said that there is just "too much we don't know" about Ryan, including whether or not he spoke with other people on the dark web. The judge also said that in looking at Ryan's history of petty crime and missing court appearances in the past, he saw a pattern of Ryan "doing what he wants to do."

Ryan's lawyer argued that Ryan is not a threat to the public, and alluded to the radioactive material being ordered for Ryan's own suicide attempt. Ryan's lawyer referenced messages between Ryan and the covert FBI agent in which Ryan expressed that he cared for his intended target, and that he wanted it to appear as if the person had died from cancer.

Ryan is currently in remission from cancer.

The U.S. Attorney's office argued that there is no way to be certain who Ryan was targeting with the radioactive materials, and that he would be a "flight risk" if released. They said they also found that Ryan had bought plane tickets to go to Portland.