Politics & Government

'Bomb House' Resident George Jakubec Gets 30 Years in Prison

A former Ramona resident who admitted making bombs and storing chemicals in a rented house in Escondido is sentenced in San Diego on Monday.

Former San Diego Country Estates resident was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison. The unemployed computer software consultant had confessed to making bombs and storing large amounts of explosives in his rented Escondido home. He also was found guilty of robbing three banks at gunpoint.

The home in Escondido was dubbed the "bomb house" and was incinerated by authorities in December after they said it was too dangerous for personnel to clean and process.

Jakubec, 55, pleaded guilty in March to carrying a firearm during a bank robbery and attempted bank robbery and admitted that he made nine detonators, 13 grenade hulls and 22 other destructive devices and stored them at the residence.

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He offered no explanation for what he had planned to do with the bombs and explosives, held in amounts that were unprecedented in the United States, according to authorities at the time.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rees Morgan said authorities conducted an exhaustive six-month investigation and found no evidence that Jakubec was a
terrorist or that he planned to use the bombs and explosives against others.

"We've never seen this amount of explosives,'' the prosecutor told the
judge, according to a report by City News Service.

U.S. District Court judge Larry Burns said a letter from Jakubec's wife indicated the defendant lost his job in 2007 and became depressed, feeling "useless and worthless'' and suffering from anxiety.

Jakubec began a pattern of "obsessive hoarding'' of electronic gadgets, making a total mess out of their home, according to the wife.

According to a plea agreement, Burns had no discretion in imposing at
least 30 years in prison.

Defense attorney Michael Berg said Jakubec was a mild-mannered guy who had
a lot of things going for him.

"Something just basically broke down,'' Berg told the judge.

Morgan said the armed bank robberies were the driving force behind the
30-year sentence. The prosecutor called the defendant's actions of robbing
three banks and trying to rob a fourth while armed "exceedingly dangerous
activity.''

Jakubec admitted being armed with a loaded firearm when he robbed a Bank
of America branch in San Diego of $43,000 on Nov. 13, 2009. He also pleaded
guilty to being armed and going into the same bank two weeks later with the
intention of committing another heist, but leaving when he saw a security
guard.  

Jakubec also admitted robbing a BofA branch on Scranton Road in San Diego of $1,480 on June 25, 2010 and stealing $10,400 from another BofA branch
on Carmel Mountain Road last July 17.

Berg said Jakubec chose Bank of America branches to rob because he believed they had the worst security.

Find out what's happening in Ramonawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Burns said he was not inclined to grant a request for Jakubec to repay the County of San Diego $541,000 for the cost of burning down the rental house and making the area safe before it was set on fire because the defendant had no ability to pay.

Jakubec was arrested Nov. 18 after a landscaper was seriously injured by stepping on some stones outside the home, detonating some chemicals.
 
A state prosecutor who handled the case before it was turned over to federal
authorities described the cache of explosives at Jakubec's house as the
"largest quantity of these types of homemade explosives ever found at one
place in the United States.''

Deputy District Attorney Terri Perez said Jakubec turned the rental home
in unincorporated Escondido into a "bomb factory.''

The discovery of the stockpile prompted then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
to declare the San Diego region a disaster area. Likewise, the county Board of
Supervisors ratified a local emergency declaration over the dicey situation.

After weighing the risks posed by the explosive chemicals, sheriff's officials decided that burning down the house was the only reasonably safe way to dispose of the hazardous substances.

In a controlled burn in December, deputies closed roads in the neighborhood and evacuated dozens of surrounding residences before a bomb squad remotely ignited the condemned home via a series of charges placed throughout it.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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