iStockphoto / Frank Brennan
Federal prosecutors announced an Oregon man was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for rigging his house with an elaborate series of potentially-deadly booby traps in an attempt to injure federal officers.
Last week, 72-year-old Gregory Lee Rodvelt received a sentence of 150 months. This came after one of his dangerous booby traps worked as it was designed and injured an FBI bomb technician.
Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eugene and Medford Branch Offices Nathan J. Lichvarcik, released a statement about the sentencing. Saying “Fueled by anger and bitterness, this defendant boobytrapped a property in southern Oregon with intent to seriously injure someone. Unfortunately, his trap worked, and he injured an FBI bomb technician.”
He added “We are fortunate Greg Rodvelt’s actions did not kill a law enforcement officer or community member. Today’s sentence is a just punishment for a serious crime.”
Elsewhere in the United States Attorney’s Office press release, the booby traps were described. This sounds like something straight out of Home Alone if instead of Kevin McAllister it was a septuagenarian from Oregon. Or, as Law and Crime described it, booby traps inspired by Indiana Jones:
When the bomb technicians arrived at the property, they observed a minivan blocking the gate. The technicians found steel animal traps affixed to a gate post and under the hood of the minivan. They also located homemade spike strips, which the receiver had previously run over. As the technician neared the residence, they observed a hot tub that had been placed on its side and rigged in a manner that when a gate was opened it would activate a mechanical trigger causing the spa to roll toward the person who had opened the gate.
The technicians further observed that the windows of the residence had been barred from the inside and there were security doors at the front and rear of the residence. The front door also had what appeared to be bullet holes from shots fired inside. In the garage, they found a rat trap modified to accept a shotgun shell. Though the trap was unloaded, it was connected to the main garage door so it would be tripped when the door was opened.
The technicians and two other law enforcement officers gathered near the front of the residence and used an explosive charge to breach the front door. The group carefully entered the residence, looking for traps, and found a wheelchair in the center of the front entryway. When the wheelchair was bumped, it triggered a homemade shotgun device that discharged a .410 shotgun shell that struck the FBI bomb technician below the knee. The group administered first aid to the wounded technician and transported him to a local hospital.
This all happened at a property in Williams, Oregon that was previously owned by Gregory Lee Rodvelt. According to the press release, he lost the property in a lawsuit. After that, a receiver was appointed to sell the property so he proceeded to set up the potentially-lethal booby traps.