Bouquet-Bomber Given 15-Year Prson Term

A 27-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for delivering a bomb-laden bouquet to the estranged wife of his alleged homosexual lover, who the judge said exerted a “Svengali-type” control over the defendant.

Shaun Small was convicted earlier this month of donning a wig and bellhop uniform and taking the booby-trapped dried flowers to the federal General Services Administration office where Melanie Pilaski, 42, was working.

Pilaski and co-worker Pamela Castro suffered cuts and burns when the bomb exploded Nov. 17.

With his hands behind his back, Small told the court of his “deep remorse for this crime I’ve committed” and said he hopes Pilaski and Castro can accept his apology.

U.S. District Judge Frank Kaufman said he doubted Small would commit crimes again. He said Small should be sent to a federal prison in Butner, N.C., which has extensive psychological evaluation and counseling programs.

“I think he can get his life straightened out. He’s young enough,” Kaufman said.

The judge also ordered Small to pay approximately $8,000 in restitution to Pilaski and Castro for medical treatment and counseling following the bombing.

Small had lived for 10 years with Melanie and Peter Pilaski, a wealthy real estate owner who went to his native West Germany 10 days before the bombing.

Throughout the trial, Small was depicted as a confused young man who became embroiled in a life of drugs and sex with Peter Pilaski, who has not been charged in the case.

Both Small and Peter Pilaski had been ordered by the court to stay away from Melanie Pilaski, who had separated from her husband. She was seeking $1.5 million in the divorce.

While sympathizing with Small’s apparent control by the “Svengali-type” Peter Pilaski, Kaufman said, “The message has to go out to anyone who’s at loose ends that they cannot let someone like Peter Pilaski dominate them” to the extent that they commit such crimes.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Lyons asked the court for a 20-year sentence for Small. “He is not a robot. He is not an automaton,” he said, adding that there was no evidence that Small had been brainwashed.

Small will serve at least five years before he can be paroled, Lyons said.