Grand Jury Returns Indictments In Bombing Case

TOPEKA, KAN. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment here Wednesday charging three southwest Kansas men with conspiring to detonate a bomb at an apartment complex in Garden City where Muslim immigrants from Somalia live and worship, Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

The indictment was based on the same facts presented in an Oct.14 criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita alleging the men conducted surveillance to size up potential targets, stockpiled firearms, ammunition and explosive components, and prepared a manifesto to be published after the bombing.

Charged with one count of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction were:

Curtis Allen, 49, Liberal, Kan.
Gavin Wright, 49, Liberal, Kan., owner of G & H Mobile Home Center at 1250 E. Tucker Road in Liberal.
Patrick Eugene Stein, 51, Wright, Kan.

If convicted, the defendants face up to life in federal prison. Investigating agencies included the FBI, the Liberal Police Department, the Seward County Sheriff’s Office, the Ford County Sheriff’s Office, the Garden City Police Department, the Dodge City Police Department, the Finney County Sheriff’s Office, and Kansas Highway Patrol, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi and Trial Attorney David Cora of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting.