East Longmeadow man sentenced to 5 years in prison for attempted bombing of Jewish nursing home
An East Longmeadow man who was convicted of planting a lit firebomb outside a Jewish-sponsored assisted living facility in 2020 was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday to five years in prison, the prosecutor’s office said. American from Massachusetts in a press release.
John Rathbun, 37, will serve three years on probation following his prison sentence and was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni to stay off the campus of Jewish Geriatric Services Lifecare, Inc. , in Longmeadow, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“Sir. Rathbun’s hateful and callous actions endanger the entire community of Longmeadow,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement. “Today’s sentence sends a powerful message that hate and bigotry have no place in Massachusetts. Everyone deserves to live fearlessly and authentically and fully as themselves.
Rathbun was convicted in June by a federal jury of one count of attempting to transport or receive an explosive device in interstate or foreign commerce with the knowledge or intent that the device will be used to kill. , injure or intimidate any person or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle or other real or personal property, and one count of attempting to maliciously damage or destroy, by means of fire or explosive, any building, vehicle or other real or personal property used in interstate or foreign commerce, attorneys mentioned.
A separate federal jury convicted Rathbun in November of lying to the FBI when he told a federal agent he was home on April 2, 2020, the day the device was planted at the entrance to the aisle of Jewish Geriatric Services Lifecare in Longmeadow, USA. said the prosecutor’s office.
Prosecutors said the homemade firebomb consisted of a five-gallon Scepter fuel tank filled with gasoline and pages from a Christian religious pamphlet that served as the fuse. Rathbun’s DNA was found on the fuel tank and on the brochure, the U.S. attorney’s office said.