Amarillo man pleads guilty in high school bomb plot
A 34-year-old Amarillo man faces up to life in federal prison after admitting to causing an explosion with a home-made explosive he built in preparation to a bomb a high school.
Erfan Salmanzadeh, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Iran, pleaded guilty on Monday before U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk to a federal count of use and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
As part of his plea agreement with the government, federal prosecutors will recommend to the court that a federal prison sentence of 180 months, or 15 years, is an appropriate punishment.
Court records show Salmanzadeh also faced three counts of making and possessing an unregistered destructive device. As part of a plea deal, federal prosecutors are recommending those charges be dismissed.
Salmanzadeh's charges stems from an investigation that began on July 26, 2021, when a late-afternoon explosion rocked a Central Amarillo neighborhood.
Amarillo fire fighters and police officers responding to reports of an explosion in the area, arrived at Salmanzadeh's residence in the 3600 block of Lenwood Drive and met with his father. While speaking with his father, Salmanzadeh came out and asked firefighters why they were there.
He went back inside when they told him they were investigating reports of a loud boom. Investigators believe Salmanzadeh went in to get rid of the homemade explosive he produced by flushing it down the toilet. He also went into the alley to dispose of other explosives, including a suicide vest, which investigators found in a dumpster behind the residence.
A search of the area yielded a crater in Salmanzadeh's backyard that investigators believed was caused by an explosion. They also found more explosives including a home made bomb described as a cylinder wrapped shrapnel consisting of nails, BBs, nails and other items.
In an interview with investigators, Salmanzadeh disclosed he used the internet to research bombmaking and produced with household chemicals he bought at Walmart a homemade explosive substance that he tested on the day of the explosion using a video game console.
He initially told investigators that he planned to test the explosions in the desert and built four pipe bombs that he also ignited earlier that month.
A search of Salmanzadeh's phone revealed a video he recorded on July 22, 2021 in his backyard in which he shared his plan to blow up an Amarillo high school.
"We are going to blast the school," Salmanzadeh could be heard saying in Farsi and English, according to court documents. "We are going to hit [the school] ... look at these."
The video included shots of a nail bomb, a suicide vest filled with pipebombs and a suitcase and backpack packed with explosives.
"Armed with internet research, this defendant was able to create homemade explosives capable of wreaking mass casualties – casualties he dreamed of inflicting on innocent high schoolers,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham in a statement. “Without vigilant neighbors who reported the sound of the explosion to authorities and immediate law enforcement intervention, this may have ended in tragedy. Instead, the community is a little bit safer today as this defendant is being held accountable for his criminal activity.”
Salmanzadeh told investigators he bought a plane ticket to go to California on July 28, 2021 to avoid detection.
Salmanzadeh was arrested on July 30, 2021 and he is being held at the the Randall County Jail.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Amarillo man pleads guilty to weapons of mass destruction charge
