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Grand Jury Returns Indictment In Garden City Bomb Plot Case

Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office
Gavin Wright, Curtis Allen and Patrick Stein are each charged with conspiring to detonate a homemade explosive at an apartment complex where Muslim immigrants from Somalia live.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment in Wichita Wednesday charging three southwest Kansas men with conspiring to detonate a bomb at an apartment complex in Garden City. The defendants allegedly targeted the location because Muslim immigrants from Somalia live and worship there.

If convicted, 49-year-old Curtis Allen, 49-year-old Gavin Wright and 51-year-old Patrick Stein could face up to life in federal prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said the indictment was based on the same facts presented in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita last week. The complaint alleged the men conducted surveillance to size up potential targets and stockpiled firearms, ammunition and explosive components. The group also allegedly prepared a manifesto to be published after the bombing.

Prosecutors say the men were part of a small militia group called the Crusaders. They allege the three planned to detonate truck bombs around a small Garden City apartment complex where about 120 Somali immigrants live. They also allegedly had discussed attacking churches that helped the refugees.

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