Jun 13, 2008 - 04:05:09 CDT
A judge has sentenced Douglas Feist to five years and 10 months in prison for charges related to making a pipe bomb.U.S. District Court Senior Judge Patrick Conmy sentenced Feist on charges of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and conspiracy to manufacture and possess a destructive device. Conmy said Feist will be on supervised probation for two years following his release from prison.
Feist, 31, pleaded guilty in March to the charges as part of a plea agreement that called for the 70-month sentence and the dismissal of charges of unlawful making of a firearm or destructive device and unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Schneider said Feist and another man began acquiring materials last June to make "the type of bomb used in Oklahoma City." That bomb did not detonate, so Feist purchased shotgun shells for their gunpowder. That bomb also did not detonate, but Feist and the other man later built a "very large bomb" and used it to blow up a well house in Kidder County.
Feist was ordered to pay $1,230 in restitution for the well house.
Schneider said Feist needs treatment, medication and counseling while in prison; otherwise, he will continue to be a threat to the community.
"Hopefully, Mr. Feist will figure out that he's got to stay away from bombs," Schneider said.
Feist's father, Gary Feist, told Conmy about his son's life in a statement he read during the sentencing on Thursday morning.
"I'm not here to make any excuses for his actions," Gary Feist said. "I apologize to the court for his actions."
He said his son has trouble organizing his thoughts and thinking about the consequences of his actions.
"Douglas does not process thoughts from beginning to end," he said. "This has been a problem his entire life."
Gary Feist said his son had allergic reactions to an adult ADHD medication that had seemed to be helping him, then did not want to take anything else for fear of the same thing happening.
"We have struggled to find a solution to help Douglas," he said.
Orell Schmitz, a federal public defender who represents Feist, said Feist is not aggressive, violent or chemically dependent, but he struggles with ADHD, depression and low self-esteem.
Feist told Conmy he was taking responsibility for his actions, which he said he has not done before. He said he needs to make better friends, work on his issues and listen to his parents.
"I didn't realize how bad I was screwing up my life," he said, adding that he wants treatment. "I'm done with this."
Federal sentencing guidelines called for Feist to be sentenced to between 84 and 105 months in prison, but Conmy sentenced Feist to 70 months because that is what prosecutors and Schmitz agreed to in the plea agreement. He recommended Feist be placed at a facility where he could receive treatment and be close to his family, such as at a federal prison in Rochester, Minn.
Conmy told Feist that his "choice of activities" were not acceptable, given the fears of terrorism and bombings in recent years.
"Politically, the climate is very bad for what you did," the judge said.
In 2004, Feist was charged with possession of a bomb or explosive device after Andrew Greff detonated a pipe bomb at the "Desert," which blew off Greff's arm. Feist remains on probation for the resulting conviction and faces an April 17 revocation of probation hearing.
Earlier that year, Feist and Greff were charged with reckless endangerment, after police found poisonous snakes in a Bismarck apartment. Feist was acquitted, but Greff pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in jail with six months suspended.
Feist's criminal history also includes convictions for setting off fireworks in a Burleigh County public bathroom and detonating a Molotov cocktail in Morton County.
Feist has been in federal custody since December, when U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Miller deemed him a flight risk and a danger to the community. Feist faces a separate charge in Burleigh County of possession of explosives. His trial in that case has not been scheduled yet. He faces up to five years in prison for that charge.
(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)
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