SPOKANE, WA (AP) -
A man has been sentenced to 32 years in prison after pleading guilty to planting a bomb intended to shower poison-laced shrapnel onto Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade marchers in Washington.
Kevin Harpham unsuccessfully tried to withdraw his plea hours before he was sentenced Tuesday. His defense questioned whether the explosive device in question met the legal definition of a bomb.
Harpham had faced a range of 27 to 32 years in prison. The plea deal charged him with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, and the hate crime of placing the bomb in an effort to target minorities.
Officials said the bomb was loaded with fishing weights coated in rat poison, which can inhibit blood clotting. The bomb was discovered before the parade and disabled.
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