Man Convicted in Bouquet Bomb Blast That Injured 2

A federal jury on Thursday convicted a 27-year-old man of possessing and exploding a bomb he delivered in a bouquet to his employer’s estranged wife, but issued a mixed verdict raising questions about his boss’s role.

Shaun Small, whose lawyers contended he didn’t know the flowers hid a bomb, was acquitted of a charge of manufacturing an illegal explosive device. The prosecutor said he would call Small before a grand jury investigating Peter Pilaski, his former boss and alleged homosexual lover.

The jurors’ verdict showed that “in regards to manufacturing, they did not know whether it was Peter Pilaski or Shaun Small,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Lyons told reporters.

He said Small’s willingness to testify before the grand jury could affect the prosecution’s recommendation on his potential sentence of 30 years in prison and $500,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled Aug. 13 before visiting U.S. District Judge Frank Kaufman.

Melanie Pilaski, 42, a contracting officer for the U.S. General Services Administration, and a co-worker, Pamela Castro, 42, suffered burns and cuts when the bomb exploded Nov. 17 as Mrs. Pilaski was opening a box in the bouquet.

Mrs. Pilaski filed for divorce a month earlier and was seeking $1.5 million. The divorce recently became final, with an undisclosed settlement.

Defense lawyer Harold Rosenthal said he was disappointed, but considered the acquittal on the manufacturing charge “a strong indication that the jury accepted our contention that Peter Pilaski was the one who built the bomb.”

Rosenthal said the convictions would be appealed.

Jurors refused to comment on the verdict, which they gave after only four hours of deliberation over two days. There had been five days of testimony.

Pilaski, a wealthy real estate owner who went to his native West Germany 10 days before the bombing, has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing. He refused to testify as a defense witness, citing his right against self-incrimination.

He also has denied statements by prosecution and defense lawyers, and by Mrs. Pilaski in her testimony, that he and Small were lovers.

Pilaski, who entered the United States in the mid-1950s with the sponsorship of Small’s father, took the then-17-year-old Shaun into his household in 1976 and employed him as an apartment manager.