Daniel Aikens gets 16 years in federal prison for 3 bombings in Alexandria, Monroe

Daniel Dewayne Aikens asserted his innocence in three Monroe and Alexandria bombings before he was sentenced Tuesday, but then switched to referring to himself as "the defendant" when saying he never meant to harm anyone.

U.S. District Judge Dee Drell sentenced Aikens to 16 years for the late 2019 and early 2020 bombings that had Alexandria on edge for days as law enforcement tried to track him down.

He was convicted by a federal jury on all eight counts he faced — three counts of making a destructive device, three counts of possession of a destructive device in violation of the National Firearms Act, one count of using an explosive to commit a federal felony and one count of conveying malicious false information.

The government had asked Drell to sentence Aikens anywhere from almost 26 years, at the minimum, to 29.5 years at the maximum. But Drell said he wouldn't go outside federal sentencing guidelines in sending the former teacher to prison.

He asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamilla Bynog if Aikens had been "undercharged" in the case. Bynog said she had researched statutes when deciding what charges to bring, and many didn't fit the circumstances of the three bombings.

"I have not stopped being a good citizen," said Aikens as he made a statement before sentencing. He listed some of his achievements, including being a teacher and an officer in the Louisiana National Guard.

He also denied he'd ever put his children in danger, but Bynog told Drell that an explosion inside Aikens' home that destroyed his oven and damaged his kitchen took place while his kids were at the house.

Kitchen destroyed:ATF agent details 'blast scene' in home during Daniel Aikens' trial for Alexandria bombing

She said the evidence and testimony at trial showed "how intent Mr. Aikens was on carrying out his horrible mission."

The bombings took a lot of planning, and people's lives were threatened in all three bombings, she said.

John Matthew, the victim of the Monroe bombing on Sept. 12, 2019, wasn't in court, but he sent a letter to be entered into the record. Matthew was burned on his face and arms when a rigged pressure cooker exploded in a trash can outside his Cloyd's Beauty School.

He and a student had taken cardboard boxes to the trash. The device exploded seconds after he saw it inside the trash can, he testified.

The victim in the Jan. 2, 2020, explosion at the now-closed PayDay Today business on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria testified about how the experience has changed her. She said it's made her paranoid and that she always watches her surroundings.

Woman:Man who set off bomb knew my name, address, details about 3 children

Since the explosion, she's been diagnosed with and remains under treatment for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, she said.

"I don't like to go anywhere now," she said.

The woman was the sole employee working at the loan business and answered a call from Aikens, who pretended to be looking for his grandmother's lost keys. As he talked to the woman, a device he'd left outside exploded.

Aikens then told her he had set off the bomb and threatened her and her children if she didn't get him $10,000 from a bank.

"His whole voice changed the minute the bomb went off," she testified during the trial.

The other bombing happened at a convenience store on Jackson Street in Alexandria on Dec. 20, 2019. No one was injured in that incident.

Drell sentenced Aikens to six years each on seven of the convictions, all to be served concurrently. But one count, the use of an explosive to commit a federal felony, has a mandatory 10-year sentence that must be served after he's completed serving his six years.

Aikens was fined $20,000 and placed on three years supervised probation. Drell said the sentence he issued Tuesday is not intended to run at the same time as any other sentence that might be imposed on him.

Aikens faces a second-degree murder charge in Grant Parish in the Dec. 31, 2017, death of Keelien Darquis Lewis, 29.

Grant Parish Sheriff Steven McCain said in August 2020 it was the federal investigation into the bombings that provided what they needed to get an arrest warrant for Aikens in connection to Lewis' death. Aikens had become a person of interest in the investigation just days after Lewis' death, he said.

Lewis was employed by Aikens through his lawn-care business and was found dead in his Dry Prong home.

Lewis' mother, Lakishama Lewis, was in court Tuesday to see Aikens sentenced. The earliest possible trial date in that case might be in October or even some time in 2024, said Grant Parish District Attorney Jay Lemoine.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Daniel Aikens sentenced to 16 year for Alexandria, Monroe bombings