Minister Is Sentenced in Failed Conspiracy to Bomb Abortion Clinic

An outspoken fundamentalist minister was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring with members of his congregation to bomb a San Diego abortion clinic and of tampering with the key prosecution witness in the case.

In a federal courtroom filled on one side with members of his Bible Missionary Fellowship and on the other side with employees and supporters of the abortion clinic, the Rev. Dorman Owens said he accepted responsibility for not using his pulpit to stop the bombing conspiracy.

The 54-year-old independent Baptist preacher, who has long been active in anti-abortion and anti-gay causes here, stood somber-faced in court while reading a few lines from an index card he pulled from his pocket.

‘Genuinely Sorry’

“I am genuinely sorry for what I’ve done,” he said. “I’ve tried to right every wrong. Now, for my sake and for the sake of my people, I’m asking for mercy and leniency.”

In addition, a tape-recording of Owens’ March 13 sermon was played for U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam. In the sermon, Owens admonished his congregation from engaging in similar criminal activity in the future.

“I am devastated by what has happened in the last months and I want to publicly apologize to you for any shame or reproach or sorrow which I have brought upon this church,” he said in the taped sermon. You can be sure such a thing will never happen again if it is brought to my attention.”

Owens and seven other members of the church, located in suburban Santee, were arrested last year in the bombing attempt. All but one has pleaded guilty.

The government’s key witness was one of the co-defendants, Eric Svelmoe, who last July delivered the explosive device--which did not detonate--to the Family Planning Associates Medical Group in San Diego.

After Svelmoe’s arrest, Owens visited him in the federal Metropolitan Correction Center here and encouraged him not to provide government officials with incriminating evidence against other church members.

That led to a charge against Owens of tampering with a federal witness.

Owens received the 21-month sentence on the witness tampering charge. On the charge of conspiracy, the pastor was given a three-year suspended sentence and five years’ probation that begins when he is released from prison on the tampering case. He was ordered to refrain from publicly exercising his freedom-of-speech rights to picket abortion clinics, and was handed a penalty assessment of $100.

Owens is expected to report to prison no later than July 11. Defense lawyer Thomas Warwick said it was likely that Owens will serve his time at a minimum-security federal facility, such as at Lompoc.

Federal guidelines would have permitted a sentence of 21 to 27 months, and Gilliam said he ordered the 21-month term because he believed Owens had accepted responsibility for his actions.