Oakbrook Terrace man sentenced to 20 years for 2006 bombing of Hinsdale Metra station
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U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly handed down a sentence of 20 years in prison Friday to Thomas Zajac, 70, a former resident of Oakbrook Terrace.
On Sept. 1, 2006, Zajac placed a pipe bomb in a garbage can outside the Metra BNSF railway station in Hinsdale; the bomb detonated early that morning injuring a station agent and critically damaging the surrounding area.
Zajac is serving a 35-year sentence in federal prison for the Sept. 15, 2006 bombing of the Salt Lake City Public Library; a US District judge passed the sentence in April 2011.
Judge Kennelly ordered Zajac to complete his 20-year sentence immediately following the 22 remaining years of his current sentence in a federal prison.
In a letter sent to the Hinsdale Police Department one month after the Metra bombing, Zajac threatened further terrorist action calling the Sept. 1 attack a “warning shot.”
According to evidence provided by the prosecution, Zajac felt disrespected when a family member was arrested by Hinsdale Police a year before the attack.
A federal jury found Zajac guilty on three charges in September, convicting him on one count of attempting to destroy property with an explosive device, one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device, and one count of willfully making a threat through the mail to kill or injure a person with an explosive device.
The destruction of property count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison with a maximum of 20 years, and the counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device and threat to injure with an explosive device each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
