14 DAY TRIAL // A former postal delivery worker convicted for sending threatening packages and pipe bombs to companies has been sentenced to 37 years in jail.
"Horrific is the single best word I've heard to describe this crime. [...] Terrifying is another good word," U.S. District Judge Robert Dow said after ruling in the case of 48-year-old John Tomkins.
The resident of Dubuque, Iowa lived an average life, bowling and working a 9 to 5 job. He would manufacture pipe bombs in his car and in rented storage lockers, KMBC writes.
"The defendant's secret life comes seemingly from nowhere.
"This is the life that most people live. [...] Dubuque’s not so different from my own home town ... Mr. Tomkins could have been anyone I knew," Dow adds.
He would send letters to companies threatening to send over bombs if they didn't change the prices on stocks as he wished. The bombs included in some of the letters were not active, as some parts were not included.
The prosecution has argued that the bombs were intended to explode, dubbing the fact that they didn't "dumb luck."
The notes were signed "The Bishop" and the explosive packages included a card with the message "BANG! YOU'RE DEAD."
When choosing his pseudonym, "The Bishop" drew his inspiration from a character in Harry Harrison's novel "A Stainless Steel Rat is Born."
"Let me start by saying how incredibly sorry I am. [...] There are no words to describe the shame and disappointment I feel in myself," the defendant expressed in court.
The judge was lenient when awarding him the sentence, as the maximum penalty for the 12 counts he was found guilty on was in the 200-year range.
"He's a family man and a man who was respected in his community," explains his attorney, Francis Lipuma.