New details emerge in mail bombings plot
Devices sent to homes were nearly identical
OAKLAND >>
Federal court documents reveal more about an Oakland’s man alleged plot of mailing explosive devices to homes in Alameda and East Palo Alto in recent months.
Ross Gordon Laverty, 56, of Oakland, was charged this week with mailing the explosive devices with intent to injure or kill, announced U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch Thursday.
In court documents filed in U.S. District Court, United States Postal Inspector Brian Codianne outlines how similar the two packages were. Both appear to have been made from the same package material, both were painted gold on the outside with return addresses to jewelry stores that don’t exist anymore.
Both bombs were constructed almost identically, using batteries, copper pipe, fishing line and a U.S. nickel coin, Codianne wrote. The front of the package sent to an address in East Palo Alto had the words “Justicia Boyz” written in gang-style writing, but the name was not recognized by San Mateo County gang experts as any local gang.
In the Alameda incident on November 24, the wife of an Alameda police officer, who has been on the force for 20 years, opened the package inside her bedroom, court documents state. It contained a return address from a jew-
elry store in Berkeley, Edelweiss Jewelers, which has been closed since 2014.
Once she began opening the package, she noticed the wires inside and immediately threw it on the ground, where it exploded. She had injuries to her eardrums.
In East Palo Alto, the package arrived on Oct. 11, but wasn't opened until Oct. 19. At first, the adult son of the person whom the package was addressed to placed the package in the closet. Then, he decided to open it in the backyard on Oct. 19. Once he began opening it, the package exploded in his hand, causing injuries to his hand, abdomen and eardrums, court docs states.
Investigators were able to link Laverty to the mail bombs after extracting DNA evidence from the evidence from the East Palo Alto bomb, Codianne said.
The complaint, filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California, mentions that Laverty has a “lengthy criminal history,” including arrests in Alameda, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties for previous property, drug, arson, and weapons-related crimes.
In 2013, he was arrested and identified as a suspect in a residential burglary in Alameda, and was found in possession of ammunition and methamphetamine, court document states. The federal complaint mentions an investigating Alameda officer, but has redacted the officer's name. It's not known if it is the same officer to whom Laverty allegedly sent the package in November. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
According to past media reports, Laverty was arrested in April 2015 after a high-speed vehicle chase that started in Orinda, went back and forth through the Caldecott Tunnel three times and ended in the Oakland hills. He pleaded no contest in August 2015 to possession of a firearm by a narcotic addict, according to court documents.
Alameda County court records show Laverty was also convicted of bringing drugs into jail in 2014 as well as some misdemeanors for drug charges in 2012.
Laverty was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero in San Francisco, who scheduled a detention hearing for Dec. 28. If convicted on that count, Laverty faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
George Kelly and Harry Harris contributed to this report.
Contact Angela Ruggiero at 510-293-2469.