Vancouver man sentenced in pair of explosions

While sentencing a Vancouver man to 18 years in prison for what he described as two car bombings, Judge David Gregerson told the defendant his case is disturbing and hard to forget.

“This was … you spinning out of control,” Gregerson said to Pedro Franco-Gonzalez during his hearing Thursday in Clark County Superior Court.

The 22-year-old blew up two vehicles with improvised explosive devices at an east Vancouver apartment complex in July and October. His intended target was a vehicle belonging to his girlfriend’s friend, with whom he was in an ongoing dispute over money and her interference in his relationship, court records state.

No one was injured in either incident.

“I offer my sincerest apologies. I understand what I did was wrong,” Franco-Gonzalez said. “I’m very grateful I didn’t hurt anyone.”

He told the judge that he believes his drug use — he said he was addicted to methamphetamine for five years — played a major role in his choices.

“It consumed me, and I lost my mind,” he said. “Please don’t let my mistakes define me. I’m begging you for a taste of mercy.”

Franco-Gonzalez pleaded guilty in April to second-degree malicious placement of explosives, second-degree malicious explosion, possession of an incendiary device and possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, which includes a firearm enhancement. He also pleaded guilty in a separate case to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

The charges he pleaded to in the explosives case were amended from a 15-count information that included multiple explosives and arson charges.

Multiple explosions

Shortly before 4:30 a.m. July 29, officers responded to an explosion and fire at the Sir James Apartments, 11022 N.E. 18th St. A silver Mercedes 240 station wagon in the parking lot was damaged, and a piece of shrapnel struck the apartment building, leaving a hole in the siding, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu said that the explosive device, which totaled the Mercedes, was intended for another vehicle.

A witness who was returning home to the apartment complex around the same time saw a smaller dark sedan speeding away from the area, the affidavit states.

Without any leads, investigators suspended the case until Oct. 2, when another explosion occurred in the same parking lot at the complex about 3:40 a.m. That explosion damaged two vehicles, one belonging to the woman whom Franco-Gonzalez was in a dispute with, court records said.

Arson detectives determined that carbon dioxide cartridge bombs were used in both incidents.

The victim told investigators that Franco-Gonzalez was likely behind the bombings, because of their ongoing dispute. She showed investigators text messages from Franco-Gonzalez threatening to damage her vehicle, one of which read, “I hope you get to watch ur kids burn” [sic]. The messages were sent a week or two before the first explosion. She also said that she heard from Franco-Gonzalez’s girlfriend that he was making bombs in his apartment, according to court documents.

His girlfriend told investigators he had been making bombs of the same design as those used in the explosions, in addition to others, according to the court affidavit.

During a search of Franco-Gonzalez’s apartment in the 6000 block of Northeast 102nd Avenue, officers found four fully assembled devices, fuses, containers of explosive powder, several firearms and ammunition in his bedroom. Some of the ammunition had been broken open and the powder removed, court documents said.

They also found a handwritten note stating, “Note to self, get rid of Gas/gas tank, empty containers, duct tape used for (the victim), find roll, any + all research/evidence = destroyed! All paperwork checked, all hard drives wiped, throw away this list when done,” court records show.

Vu told the court that following searches of Franco-Gonzalez’s apartment and his vehicle, authorities recovered eight completed devices, four firearms, and methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Vu and Franco-Gonzalez’s attorney, Lisa Toth, negotiated a joint sentencing recommendation of 180 months plus a 36-month firearm enhancement to run consecutively.

The 18-year sentence is “hard to swallow,” Toth told the court, despite it being an agreed-upon recommendation.

She believes the sentence is too long, she said, given other crimes she’s recently seen reported, including a case in which a man was killed, and his killer received less time than her client. However, if Franco-Gonzalez had gone to trial and was found guilty, he potentially faced 40 years in prison, she said.

In addition to his sentence, he will serve 18 months of community custody and must pay restitution for the damaged vehicles.