Terry Nichols Gets Life

Terry Nichols was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing after declining to reveal new information about the deadly conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch imposed the sentence after listening to tearful survivors and relatives of victims, who described how the bombing three years ago left their lives in ruins.

Matsch had indicated he would consider a lesser sentence if Nichols answered lingering questions about the bombing. In court, however, Nichols rejected an opportunity to speak.

Matsch said Nichols and his co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh, were on a campaign to disrupt and intimidate the U.S. government.

Nichols showed no emotion when Matsch announced the sentence. His ex-wife, Lana Padilla, and their son, Josh, wept.

Nichols was convicted in December of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter in the April 19, 1995, bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people and injured more than 500 others. The jury acquitted him of murder and weapons-related counts.

The jurors couldn't agree on a sentence, so the decision fell to Matsch. Under federal law, he could not impose a death sentence.

"It is a crime and the victims have spoken eloquently here. ... But it is not a crime as to them so much as it is a crime against the Constitution of the United States. That's the victim," Matsch said.

McVeigh, Nichols' former Army buddy, was convicted of murder, conspiracy and weapons-related counts and sentenced to die. His appeal is pending.

Michael Fortier, also in the Army with the two men, was given a 12-year prison sentence last week for failing to alert authorities in advance about the bomb and other charges. He was a key prosecution witness at both trials.

Prosecutors had asked Matsch to impose a life term for Nichols, arguing that he worked "side by side" with McVeigh to plan and carry out the bombing.

Defense attorneys, who recommended a maximum term of seven years, insisted Nichols was building "a life, not a bomb."

At the start of the hearing, Nichols asked for a new trial. The defense claimed to have evidence that jurors worked in "small groups outside the formal deliberative process," said U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch.

The judge gave prosecutors a week to respond to the request for a new trial, and pressed ahead with sentencing.

Written by Sandy Shore
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