Man in RNC Molotov plot gets 3.5 years in prison
A Michigan man who allegedly came to Minnesota to attack the Republican National Convention has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for possessing Molotov cocktails.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim sentenced 23-year-old Matthew Bradley DePalma of Flint, Michigan, to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He had previously pleaded guilty to possession of destructive devices.
DePalma had made at least five Molotov cocktails by the time he was arrested on Aug. 28 in a Minneapolis apartment. He had allegedly told an FBI informant he planned to attack the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, where the Republican convention was held, and described a plan to use the fire bombs on police.
DePalma had faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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