Baldwin Park : Sentencing in Bomb Case
A Baldwin Park man convicted earlier this month of possessing materials to make a pipe bomb has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Pomona Superior Court Judge Robert Martinez last week imposed the maximum sentence on Manuel Joseph Rojas, 39, saying he believed Rojas, who had been on probation after a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, posed a potential danger to others.
Police arrested Rojas on May 6 after officers searching his apartment found pipes, fuses and seven pounds of gunpowder, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Hyatt Seligman. Police also found manuals, such as “The Anarchist’s Cookbook” and “Boom,” which provide instructions on making bombs, Seligman said.
“He could have constructed a bomb with a killing range of 100 yards in all directions,” Seligman said. “He had all the stuff right in his living room.”
Police originally obtained a warrant to search Rojas’ apartment while investigating an April 25 incident in which Rojas allegedly wounded a man with a shot gun, Seligman said.
Charges of assault with a deadly weapon were filed against Rojas but were subsequently dropped because of evidence, Seligman said.
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