Marissa man sentenced to federal prison for throwing lit pipe bomb at people
A 49-year-old Marissa man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for lighting and throwing a pipe bomb he built at people last spring.
Jim F. Lanier told investigators he brought the pipe bomb to South Marissa Trailer Park early Saturday, April 29, to blow up his wife’s car but instead threw it at three people who confronted him, according to court records.
The device did not detonate and no one was injured. Local law enforcement, Scott Air Force Base’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, a state bomb squad and the FBI responded to the area to close roads, evacuate trailers and neutralize the device.
Investigators also found a similar device in a garage at the home of one of Lanier’s family members where he stored things, court records state.
His case was scheduled to go to trial this month, but he pleaded guilty to the federal charge of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and started serving his sentence at the federal prison in Marion.
Lanier’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Daniel G. Cronin, wrote in court filings prior to the sentencing that “he understands that he deserves years of imprisonment as a consequence.” Cronin described the crime as “fraught with danger.”
Lanier must also pay a $200 fine and undergo court-ordered mental health and substance abuse treatment as part of the sentence handed down by Judge David W. Dugan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Lanier had also faced state charges of possession of an explosive or incendiary device in St. Clair County Circuit Court, but they were dismissed in May as the federal case proceeded.
