The State : Pastor Cleared in Bomb Plot

The former assistant pastor of a Santee fundamentalist church was cleared of charges relating to a bombing plot against an abortion clinic after admitting that he knew of the conspiracy but did not support it. In San Diego, U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam formally dismissed charges against the Rev. Kenneth Felder, 39, in a bomb conspiracy scheme involving members of the Bible Missionary Fellowship. The pipe bomb planted outside the clinic last July failed to go off. Assistant U.S. Atty. Larry Burns said the decision to drop the charges was based on new information Felder provided his office. Felder told prosecutors that he was reluctant to disagree with the Rev. Dorman Owens in front of church members, but later told Owens privately that he did not want to be involved in the bombing, Burns said. Owens, the congregation’s founder and leader, was sentenced last week to 21 months in prison in connection with the conspiracy.