3 Men Convicted of Bombings, Robberies

Three members of an anti-government militia group were convicted in a string of pipe bombings and bank robberies last year that prosecutors called domestic terrorism. A federal jury in Spokane convicted the men on eight felony counts after deliberating for less than eight hours after a four-week trial. Verne Jay Merell, 51, Charles Barbee, 45, and Robert S. Berry, 43, all of Sandpoint, Idaho, face mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole. It was the second time the men were tried on the bombing and armed bank robbery counts. Their first trial ended in a mistrial in April.