A 22-year-old has been indicted on charges of manufacturing explosives and destroying a mailbox in Douglas County.
Michael A. Vanlerberg, whose city of residence was not made available, is charged with one count of unlawfully manufacturing explosive materials, one count of damaging government property, one count of using explosives to commit a felony and one count of destroying a mailbox. The crimes allegedly occurred Nov. 30, 2007, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren's office said.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment this week, a spokesman for Melgren said. The indictment alleged Vanlerberg "willfully and maliciously injured and destroyed" the mailbox. The exact location of the alleged crime was not made available.
If convicted of all charges, Vanlerberg faces 43 years in federal prison and $1 million in fines, according to a news release from Melgren's office.
The United States Postal Inspection Service, Lawrence Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case, said Jim Cross, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney.
The Lawrence Journal-World reported on a Nov. 30, 2007, explosion at 4:30 a.m. in the 3400 block of West 24th Street. Lawrence police said a mailbox on a post was destroyed and a nearby vehicle was damaged. No one was injured.
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ralphralph (anonymous) says…
It really IS a federal offense!
yellowhouse (anonymous) says…
He blew up a mailbox and is only looking 43 years! I think our Government is getting soft.
gr (anonymous) says…
"He blew up a mailbox and is only looking 43 years!"Killing someone would have got fewer years."willfully and maliciously injured and destroyed" the mailbox. Umm, inanimate objects anyone? How does one "injure" a mailbox? I tell you, there are getting more treehugging wackos in this world all the time. Did the mailbox need to go in for mental distress?"Lawrence police said a mailbox on a post was destroyed and a nearby vehicle was damaged. No one was injured."Or was that excepting for the mailbox?"and one county of destroying a mailbox. "Would that be committing a "Douglas"?
senegal66025 (anonymous) says…
43 years seems too long to give a kid that age. Nobody got hurt here except the mailbox. Should have been more like 43 days in super max.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…
Will somebody please tell me how someone who has been charged with, and convicted of, such a serious crime can get away with his city not being "made available" to news outlets??? Would his city of residence not be a matter of public record? If he is homeless, would that fact not be known?And why was the location of the crime "not made available"? Does this strike anyone else as totally bizarre?Gee--I guess if I decide to commit a felony, I'll make sure the authorities suppress my address, and even my city, so that no reporters will harass my family. They'd better keep the location of the crime hush-hush, too. Don't want anyone else in the neighborhood alerted that they should be more vigilant in the future.WTF?
geniusmannumber1 (anonymous) says…
He's not going to get 43 years, most likely. That's a more appropriate sentence for, I don't know, fencing stolen goods or something.
jackpot (anonymous) says…
Vanlerberg of the Shawnee Vanlerberg?
OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…
I was once arrested on an explosives charge. The key to getting off: Make sure you do the deed on July 4th, and not in November. That's the difference between "stupid" and "criminal". I'm thankful to be stupid.
Munsoned (anonymous) says…
Py--He's only been indicted
The_Voice_of_Reason (anonymous) says…
I wonder if the possible 43 years has more to do with the "one count of using explosives to commit a felony" charge than the rest of the charges. Seeing as we live in society that has been brow beat by the government to be afraid of our own shadows these past few years...
pace (anonymous) says…
I wonder if he was trying to kill someone? Was it set to go off when the box was opened? There are attacks on mail boxes and there are bombs being planted, wide spread of possible results.
cds (anonymous) says…
The_Voice_of_Reason (Anonymous) says: I wonder if the possible 43 years has more to do with the "one count of using explosives to commit a felony" charge than the rest of the charges. Seeing as we live in society that has been brow beat by the government to be afraid of our own shadows these past few years:____________________Ditto, willing to bet it's a large part of it. Good ol' Patriot Act... I feel so much safer.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…
Munsoned~ You're right--I'm guilty of being careless and skimming the article. Thanks for setting me straight! I think the "43 years" comments other people made, especially one person's comment, "...should have been 43 days instead...," which made it sound like a done deal, led me to think he'd been convicted. Still, even with it just being the indictment, why the secrecy about his city of residence or the location of the crime? Isn't such information usually released at the time of an arrest, much less an indictment? Just curious, if anybody can offer a logical explanation.
somebodynew (anonymous) says…
The secretcy is probably because this was a Federal announcement and not a local one. It most likely involves the story awhile back about blowing up a mailbox in the sw part of Lawrence (maybe 24th or 25th St).
doc1 (anonymous) says…
So basically the gov is going to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to prosocute a kid for a stupid prank that wasn't meant to hurt anyone. What a bunch of BS.
dweezil222 (anonymous) says…
"And why was the location of the crime "not made available"? Does this strike anyone else as totally bizarre?"Must have been someplace well-trafficked; maybe they're afraid it will start a panic, or incite copycat incidents.
yellowhouse (anonymous) says…
Its the butterfly effect
BigPrune (anonymous) says…
In other news, a Lawrence man was sentenced to 30 days for trying to eat his roommate's pet bunny and ordered to pay a $500 fine plus vet bills.In other news, an Illinois woman who pleaded guilty to killing her 11-month-old daughter in a 2002 drunk driving crash was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for driving drunk.Injured mailboxes are too important so justice must be served. The guy should've robbed a bank or killed someone - at least he'd have some hope.
RedwoodCoast (anonymous) says…
Geez. I think the budget allocated to law enforcement is being significantly overestimated. Either there is more to the story, or some lawmen were just looking for something to do. I'm not sure which is worse.
justaverage (anonymous) says…
Some really cute posts from a bunch of bozos! Maybe this punk would have blown up something bigger next time. I think the proposed punishment is intended to send a message to other young punks to get an education, a job and do something worthwhile in life.
JJE007 (anonymous) says…
justaverage says: Some really cute posts from a bunch of bozos! Maybe this punk would have blown up something bigger next time. I think the proposed punishment is intended to send a message to other young punks to get an education, a job and do something worthwhile in life.Wow. You sure like to throw stones don't you, sinner man? If that ain't the Whizzo calling the Bozo "Clown" then I'll shine your big, floppy shoes!~) Wipe the greasepaint off and fess up that you're a hate filled little dictator(sp;).You obviously do not believe in trials or that the punishment should fit the crime. Instead, you believe that the punishment for all crimes and misdemeanors should be so harsh as to put the fear of gawd into all others ("young punks") who might be tempted to commit similar offenses. You also apparently even believe that people should be punished for what they maybe/might/could conceivably do in the future. Wow!I'd say that's waaaaay belowaverage in logic and fairness, you old curmudgeon! Now, git offn mah grass!~)
gr (anonymous) says…
"a Lawrence man was sentenced to 30 days for trying to eat his roommate's pet bunny and ordered to pay a $500 fine plus vet bills."Yeah, nothing criminal about eating rabbit."Now, git offn mah grass!"Next thing you know he'd be trespassing a high security area next time!
seventy_times_seven (anonymous) says…
Hey justaverage, you may be interested to know that this 'punk' is an honor role student. Do you have any recollection of anyone who might have said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."? If so, keep those rocks in your pocket and git offn mah grass!
aeroscout17 (anonymous) says…
In other news, a man who killed someone in KC (because he was bored) gets a max of 20 years...http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/821618.htmlWhat is going on with our society and justice system?
thewholestory (anonymous) says…
"justaverage (Anonymous) says:Some really cute posts from a bunch of bozos! Maybe this punk would have blown up something bigger next time. I think the proposed punishment is intended to send a message to other young punks to get an education, a job and do something worthwhile in life"..aboveWho says the perpetrator wasn't a 4.0 student in their senior year with a career in the works? and what was your gpa?????????? Every one makes bad decisions from time to time, perhaps we shouldn't be so judgmental, now should we? Lets be realistic, 43 years is excessive!!!They are obviously trying to make an example of him, when we were kids fireworks were lit and carefully placed in mailboxes throughout the neighborhood on a regular basis. Leave it to our all knowing regulatory body to have no mercy on our own citizens, and not bother to do anything about terrorists who killed thousands!!! How long will bin laden serve if our military ever bothers to go find him, probably not 43 years!