'Prophet' Sentenced in Bomb Conspiracy

His wife, Cecilia, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years and a friend, John Dare Baird, received a 10-year sentence.

"Ray on the whole took it pretty well, but he was naturally disappointed that the judge handed down such tough sentences," Jay Williams, one of Lampley's attorneys, said. "The sentences were at the upper level of what the judge could have ordered."

He said he thought "Ray was more upset at the sentences given Cecilia and J.D. than he was about himself. When he had a chance to address the judge, I think he spent about half of the time telling the judge they were innocent and should not be sentenced harshly."

Williams said notice of appeal was filed the same day.

Asked whether he thought there was a chance the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals might overturn the sentences, Williams said, "We're hopeful. But realistically, not a great number of cases get overturned on appeal."

Then, too, Williams said, the Oklahoma City federal building bombing case has been transferred to Denver, where the appeals court sits.

"It could be that things over there will be just like they are here" in Oklahoma, Williams said.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Littlefield had argued that the entrapment defense does not apply when a person is predisposed to commit a crime. He added: "Ray Lampley was given opportunity after opportunity to end it, but he persisted and went forward. He was not induced by Richard Schrum."

Lampley operated the Universal Church of God next to his trailer home and had proclaimed himself a prophet. Some of the government witnesses told of his outbursts against the government and some of its agencies and said he urged action against them.

Prosecutors alleged that Lampley's bombing targets included Anti-Defamation League offices in Dallas and Houston; the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama and the Department of Human Services, in addition to the gay bars and abortion clinics.

Federal agents arrested the three last Nov. 11 and found bomb-making materials in a search of the Lampley home. Authorities said Lampley had planned to test out his homemade explosives the following day at Elohim City, a white supremacist enclave on the Arkansas border.

Lampley, during two days of testimony, admitted he had gathered materials to make homemade C-4 explosives, but said the idea came from Schrum. He said it was Schrum, not he, who was head of a local militia organization and said Schrum threatened to disband the unit if Lampley didn't follow through with the plan.

In addition, Lampley said he though the militia unit was operating in conjunction with a Special Forces outfit at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. And, he said, the explosives were to be used only if Russian troops invaded the United States.

Lampley also admitted that he discussed the bombing plans during a meeting with a South Dakota militia unit in August 1995. But, he said, "basically, I was just talking." The South Dakota militia unit had notified authorities ahead of time, and they monitored the meeting.

But, he testified, he was "just having a friendly conversation" when he discussed blowing up the Interstate 35 bridge over the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas.

Witnesses testified that Lampley believed the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center were part of a New World Order designed to destroy resistance in the United States to a single world currency and government.

Other witnesses testified that Lampley believed foreign troops were massing along the United States border in Mexico in preparation for an invasion.