Kevin Harpham could face up to 32 years in prison for attempting to bomb a crowd celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Washington.
(Photo: AP)
Kevin Harpham has plead guilty to federal charges and may now face up to 32 years in prison for attempting to bomb a crowd celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Spokane, Washington last January.
Harpham reached a plea agreement with prosecutors yesterday, just days before his trial was set to begin, for a recommended sentence of 27 to 32 years in prison. Harpham was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and a hate crime for attempting to target minorities after he was accused of planting a pipe bomb along a heavily crowded parade route.
According to the Associated Press, officials said the bomb contained lead fishing weights coated in rat poison, which can inhibit blood clotting in wounds. Parade workers discovered the bomb in a backpack before Harpham could detonate it.
When asked, Harpham, who has ties to white supremacist groups, admitted that he planted the bomb with the intention to harm people because of their “race, color or national origin.”
Harpham will be sentenced on Nov. 30.
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