BEAUMONT, Texas — The attorney for "Beaumont Bomber," Jonathon Matthew Torres, is seeking to get one of two counts brought against the bomber dropped based on a technicality.
Torres' attorney, Ryan Gertz, presented oral arguments before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, seeking to get one of two counts dropped.
Torres pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and is serving two concurrent five-year sentences in federal prison for leaving a bomb at a Beaumont Starbucks and detonating one at a church in 2018.
The appeal is concerned with the count that deals with arson of a building that has a, "substantial impact on interstate commerce." The length of Torres' sentence will not change even if he wins the appeal on one count.
Gertz said he expects to hear a decision from the court within two to eight weeks.
In 2019, Gertz filed for an acquittal arguing that the accusations did not meet the criteria to be federal charges, and it was an overreach by the federal government.
Torres was found guilty in October 2019 and sentenced to 60 months in federal prison on Tuesday, September 8, 2020.
Torres initially faced three charges. They were using an explosive to cause property damage, possession of an unregistered destructive device and mailing a threatening communication. The third charge, mailing a threatening communication, was dropped.
Timeline of events that led to his conviction
- On April 26, 2018, a homemade destructive device was discovered at the Starbuck’s on Dowlen Road.
- The next day, April 27, 2018, the Beaumont Police Department received a suspicious note taunting police. It read "do you want Bmt to become another Austin."
- Almost two weeks later, on May 10, 2018, damage and the remains of a an explosive device were discovered outside an office at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Delaware Street. The detonation caused minor damage to the building. Investigators said components of that device were similar to those of the device discovered at Starbuck’s.
- A day later, May 11, 2018, Beaumont Police received another taunting postcard.
- This postcard had an image of the character from the DC Comics "V" for Vendetta and read: "would you like to play a game-jh.”
- Police received a third postcard, bearing the image of the creature from the Black Lagoon, on May 14, 2018.
- The third postcard stated, "there are two others did you not get them?-Jh."
- Police received a fourth postcard on May 17, 2019 with the image of the DC Comics character “The Atom.
- This fourth card, written in green ink, read "none of these have been deemed a credible threat-jh.”
- A search warrant was executed on May 24, 2018, at Torres' home on El Paso Street in Beaumont’s north end.
- Investigators recovered multiple containers of the same type of explosives.