THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504070498
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
The Virginia state trooper convicted of planting seven bombs in Hampton Roads to further his career was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in federal prison without parole.
In January, Vernon R. Richards pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court and said the bombs were never intended to hurt anyone.
Federal officials have not disputed that, but argued Wednesday that innocent people could have been hurt during the hoaxes in which Richards and his bomb-sniffing dog, ``Master Blaster,'' found the planted bombs in courthouses and malls.
After discovering the bombs, Richards was hailed as a hero.
None of the devices exploded. One bomb planted by Richards - a makeshift hand grenade hidden in a bathroom at Hampton's Coliseum Mall - was discovered by a maid before Richards could get to it. Although the detonator misfired, the maid was not hurt.
However, in sentencing Richards, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith said that the potential for injury was present. In addition, the breach of trust by a law enforcement official deserved a stiff sentence, she said.
``It's clear that you never intended to hurt anybody,'' Smith said. ``But the potential was still there. . . . This defendant endangered the lives of innocent people.''
Richards pleaded guilty to seven counts of unlawfully and maliciously attempting to damage and destroy by means of fire and explosives and of obstructing justice.
Federal guidelines call for a sentence of 8 to 10 years on each charge. Richards also was sentenced to nine years each on the remaining six charges, but those terms will run concurrently with his nine-year prison sentence.
Richards was charged with planting explosive devices from August 1993 to September. He was arrested after recovering a canister containing nail heads and powder from a yard.
Hampton investigators noted several inconsistencies in his story relating to the bomb threats. Police also said Richards tried to frame a 19-year-old man for planting the courthouse bombs.
He was arrested after investigators rigged a video camera inside a shed and called on Richards to search for a bomb. The tape captured Richards planting explosives. He confessed when confronted.
The bombs planted by Richards included:
Aug. 18, 1993. A hand grenade found by a maid at Coliseum Mall.
March 23, 1994. A pipe bomb at Coliseum Mall.
June 10. A bomb at Richmond Coliseum that Richards ``found'' after planting it earlier.
July 16. A device at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.
Sept. 13. Three explosives at Hampton General District Court.
Richards told police he committed the ``reprehensible acts'' so he could be promoted from a street officer to a training officer working with dogs.
``I wanted to be doing what I love best, working with animals and living with my wife in the country,'' Richards said in his confession. ILLUSTRATION: Richards
KEYWORDS: SENTENCING BOMBS by CNB