A former U.S. Marine has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for detonating a pipe bomb in the Bronx on March 2, 2016, along with firearms and narcotics offenses.
RICHARD LAUGEL, 39, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 121 months in prison for the crimes, which also included a cache of weapons and narcotics businesses.
The incident occurred when LAUGEL placed an improvised explosive device (IED) under the rear tire well of his neighbor’s car, which was parked near their apartment building in the Bronx.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the IED was constructed using a metal pipe bomb, which was packed with nails and explosives and attached to a butane canister to increase the potential lethality of the device.
LAUGEL used a remote-detonation device to activate the bomb after his neighbor entered the car and drove several blocks away.
The force of the explosion blew out the airbags in the car and buckled the car doors. The neighbor was not injured by the explosion.
On May 22, 2018, agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, officers with the New York City Police Department, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives executed a search warrant at LAUGEL’s home in the Bronx.
Law enforcement recovered from LAUGEL’s home and garage, among other items, 575 rounds of assorted ammunition, 8 silencers and 32 silencer parts, 5 home-made pistols, 2 commercially manufactured pistols, 2 ‘switches’ to convert pistols into fully automatic weapons, and 1 bump stock.
In addition to the prison term, LAUGEL was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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