Hoarder Gets 30 Years for Packing House With Bombs

An unemployed software consultant who stockpiled explosive materials in his suburban San Diego-area home has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. George Jakubec looked frail and said nothing during today’s hearing. The 55-year-old's wife says depression from losing a job led him to stockpile large amounts of powerful explosives; she called it obsessive hoarding. The hoarding stopped in November when a gardener stepped on chemical residue in Jakubec's backyard, suffering eye, chest, and arm injuries.

Authorities, unable to safely clean the volatile mess, destroyed the home in a carefully orchestrated burn that played out on television screens across the US in December. In a plea agreement, Jakubec acknowledged making and storing explosives and weapons at his ranch-style home, including nine detonators; 13 grenade hulls; large quantities of the highly unstable HMDT, which can explode by someone stepping on it; and significant amounts of PETN, the explosive used in the 2001 airliner shoe-bombing attempt. He also agreed to reimburse San Diego County the $541,000 it cost authorities to destroy his home.