Fairfield Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Bombing

SACRAMENTO—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Daniel Richard Garcia, 30, of Fairfield, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton to 35 years in federal prison. The defendant was found guilty by a federal jury on January 17, 2012 of malicious use of explosives, possession of a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence, and two counts of possession of unregistered destructive devices.

According to testimony presented at trial, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on May 27, 2011, the defendant placed a bomb underneath an SUV parked next to an apartment building in Fairfield. The bomb detonated, causing a fireball and sending shrapnel into the vehicle and the nearby apartment building, where two young children and numerous others were sleeping. Investigators were able to piece together parts of the bomb and link it to the defendant.

The targeted SUV belonged to the defendant’s former tenant, and the defendant was angry that the tenant had taken a cable box and left behind trash when moving out. The defendant testified at trial that he had become “numb” about the dispute. During a June 16, 2011 search of the defendant’s house, law enforcement found and disabled a second bomb. The defendant was found and arrested two days later after a police stand-off.

This case is the product of an extensive joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms; and Explosives; the Fairfield Police Department; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Yolo County Bomb Squad. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Anderson and Phillip A. Talbert prosecuted the case.

U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner said, “The defendant’s attempt to resolve a minor private dispute by detonating a bomb endangered the lives of all those who were sleeping in the apartment building in Fairfield that night. While it is fortunate that no one was harmed, the defendant’s actions, together with his possession of a second bomb in the residential neighborhood where he lived, merit a long prison sentence. I am grateful to the efforts of and fine investigation put together by the ATF, the Fairfield Police Department, the FBI, and the Yolo County Bomb Squad.”

“Some of the most dangerous criminals ATF investigates are those who use improvised explosive devices, IED, to commit acts of violent crime,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Scot L. Thomasson. “ATF will continue to target those responsible for putting the public at risk through the illegal use of these horrific instruments of death and destruction.”