Bomb Plotter Gets 3-Year Term

A white supremacist was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for a plot to bomb 15 cities.

James Viefhaus Jr., 28, stood before U.S. District Judge Michael Burrage and tearfully apologized for his taped threats last year condemning blacks, homosexuals and Jews.

“No matter what anybody thinks of me in here, I know I’m not guilty of any of these charges,” he said. “I’m not the person I’ve been convicted of being. How could someone who’s dangerous be crying?”

Viefhaus could have gotten more than 10 years for conspiracy, making a bomb threat and possession of a destructive device. His co-defendant, former government informant Carol Howe, was acquitted at a separate trial.

Howe, who infiltrated militia groups, claimed she gave agents information that federal buildings were targeted for bombings before the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City blast. Federal officials said the information was not specific and not helpful.

Viefhaus’ case centered more on Howe than Viefhaus, her former fiance, and whether she was acting as an informant when pipe bomb components - including a cannon fuse and gun powder - were found in their home in December.

Viefhaus made the bomb threat in a message recorded for a white supremacist hot line. The message said bombs would go off in 15 U.S. cities on Dec. 15, 1996; no bombs went off.

Viefhaus said the material on the tapes came from other people’s literature. He said he disavowed his racist views during the past 10 months in jail.

“I feel like the world hates me,” he said, “and I don’t like how it feels.”