Man gets 20 years for setting off pipe bomb in west suburban Chicago Metra station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for setting off a pipe bomb at a Metra station in Hinsdale nearly 18 years ago.
Thomas Zajac, 70, was convicted of the crime in September.
On Sept. 1, 2006, Zajac placed a pipe bomb in the trash can at the Metra BNSF Line station in Hinsdale. The device detonated – damaging the station and injuring an employee.
Zajac, formerly of Oakbrook Terrace, was convicted by a federal jury in September of one count each of attempting to destroy property with an explosive device, possessing an unregistered destructive device, and willfully making a threat through the mail to kill or injure a person with an explosive device.
A month later, Zajac sent an anonymous letter to Hinsdale police, claiming he had "fired a warning shot" and that police actions would "likely eventually lead to the death" of at least one person in Hinsdale. Prosecutors claimed Zajac felt disrespected when Hinsdale police arrested his relative in 2005.
In sentencing Zajac Friday, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly ordered that the sentence must be completed after Zajac is finished with a sentence he is serving for bombing a public library in Salt Lake City.