An Oregon man who rigged his lost home with an “Indiana Jones”-inspired booby trap of a “round hot tub that was on its side set to roll down the hill” was found guilty of charges stemming from that 2018 incident where a federal agent was injured, officials said Tuesday.
A federal jury in Medford found Gregory Lee Rodvelt, 71, guilty of assaulting a federal officer and using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon.
Rodvelt lost his home in a lawsuit and after he “learned that a receiver had been appointed to sell that property, he proceeded to booby trap it,” federal prosecutors said.
Bomb specialists with the FBO and Oregon State Police were asked to inspect the property after Rodvelt was arrested in Arizona in April, 2017 and charged with unlawful possession of explosives, according to an affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Gray.
When bomb specialists got to the man’s former property in Williams, about 30 miles west of Medford, on Sept. 7, 2018, they came upon a minivan blocking front gates and, upon closer inspection, saw it “was rigged with two booby traps,” according to the affidavit.
They disarmed those traps and got to the home’s front where they spotted a hot tub tilted at an angle, authorities said.
When he was later reached by FBI agents in Arizona, “Rodvelt stated that he set up fishing line and a tripwire across the property gate that went to a round hot tub that was on its side set to roll down the hill and hit whoever comes through the gate,” Gray wrote.
“Rodvelt described it by referencing the ‘stone rolling down in the Indiana Jones Movie.’ Rodvelt also talked of other tripwires on the property and a spike strip made of nails and wood which was designed to flatten tires. Rodvelt did not provide additional specifics about the tripwires.”
To enter the house, “based upon the presence of the aforementioned booby traps,” law enforcement used “an explosive charge to breach the front door,” according to the affidavit.
Once they got inside, they came upon a wheelchair and after it was bumped, “it triggered a homemade shotgun device that discharged a .410 shotgun shell that struck the FBI bomb technician below the knee,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement said.
The agent was rushed to the hospital where he as treated and released, officials said.
Rodvelt faces up to 20 years behind bars when he’s later sentenced, according to prosecutors.
“That’s an unrealistic maximum (sentence),” defense attorney Benjamin Kim told NBC News on Wednesday.
Kim declined any further comment on the case.
Donna Mendell and Colin Sheeley contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
