The last defendant in the case of the notorious Baltimore firebombing of 2005 ? which prosecutors said was designed to intimidate a drug witness ? pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday.
Sedrick Bowman, 26, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit witness tampering and use of fire and explosives to commit a felony. Judge J. Frederick Motz will sentence Bowman on Aug. 31.
“Criminals need to know that witness intimidation will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said in a statement.
On Jan. 15, 2005, Bowman met with six other Baltimore men ? ages 19 to 32 ? to discuss firebombing a home in retaliation for the owner of that residence reporting drug activity to the police, according to the statement of facts in the case.
Bowman and the others made Molotov cocktails by emptying beer bottles, filling them with gasoline and inserting rags soaked with gasoline to serve as wicks. Bowman and four others threw the Molotov cocktails at the residence, prosecutors said.
Bowman faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 fine on conspiracy to commit witness tampering and a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison consecutive to any sentence received on the witness tampering charge for using fire and explosives to commit a felony.
