White Man Gets Life in Prison for Exploding 2 Bombs at Black College

A white man was sentenced Friday to life in prison for setting off two pipe bombs that spread terror last year at predominantly black Florida A&M; University but caused no injuries.

Lawrence Lombardi, an unemployed embalmer who was convicted in June, maintained that he was innocent. He told U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle that he believed federal agents, under pressure to make an arrest, made him a scapegoat.

Federal law provides for a life sentence when someone is convicted of a second bombing. Hinkle determined that although Lombardi was convicted in a single case, the bombings were separate offenses and fell under the mandatory sentencing provision.

The bombings, accompanied by racist phone calls, gripped the school in fear for a month at the beginning of the school year.

Lombardi, 42, once stocked vending machines at the Tallahassee school. He said law enforcement agents ignored leads that might have led to someone else.

In addition to the life term for setting off a bomb, Lombardi was sentenced for hate crimes because the bombings were racially motivated. He received a 30-year consecutive sentence and a nine-year concurrent sentence.

The first blast went off Aug. 31, 1999, in a restroom at an administration building. The second was in a classroom building. Neither caused extensive damage.

Defense lawyer Tim Jansen said his client will appeal.