Hoarder Gets 30 Years for Packing House With Bombs

George Jakubec receives prosecutors' recommended sentence
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 13, 2011 4:17 PM CDT
George Jakubec Sentenced to 30 Years: Homemade Bomb, Weapon Maker was a Hoarder
A close look at the garage door at a home in a neighborhood of Escondido, Calif., is where authorities found the largest supply of homemade explosives in a single location, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010.   (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

An unemployed software consultant who stockpiled explosive materials in his suburban San Diego-area home has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. George Jakubec looked frail and said nothing during today’s hearing. The 55-year-old's wife says depression from losing a job led him to stockpile large amounts of powerful explosives; she called it obsessive hoarding. The hoarding stopped in November when a gardener stepped on chemical residue in Jakubec's backyard, suffering eye, chest, and arm injuries.

Authorities, unable to safely clean the volatile mess, destroyed the home in a carefully orchestrated burn that played out on television screens across the US in December. In a plea agreement, Jakubec acknowledged making and storing explosives and weapons at his ranch-style home, including nine detonators; 13 grenade hulls; large quantities of the highly unstable HMDT, which can explode by someone stepping on it; and significant amounts of PETN, the explosive used in the 2001 airliner shoe-bombing attempt. He also agreed to reimburse San Diego County the $541,000 it cost authorities to destroy his home. (More George Jakubec stories.)

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