At a sentencing hearing Monday, the former Petersburg man who admitted to making and detonating explosives last year in a rock pit explained why.
Mark Weaver and his attorney Phillip Paul Wiedner said in the U.S. District Court in Juneau that Weaver intended to kill himself with a device made from explosives and other components found in his shop. Just weeks before the explosion, Weaver and his wife decided to divorce.
“This is not a classic destructive device case,” said Wiedner.
Wiedner said Weaver had no intention of hurting anyone, which is why he went to the rock pit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Bottini said he had heard from Petersburg community members about Weaver’s aggressiveness and instability, but there was no evidence that Weaver intended to harm anyone besides himself.
Weaver’s arm and a leg were burned from the explosion. He will require more skin grafts, an ear drum transplant and respiratory therapy.
Dressed in a dark suit jacket and a blue tie, Weaver read a prepared statement in court, saying that he was really sorry for what he did and that he was ashamed for disobeying the law. He also said, “Thank God I didn’t kill myself.”
The 60-year-old will not be allowed to return to Petersburg within the next five years, and he says he has no intention of ever going back. Weaver was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Weaver was also ordered to follow through with mental health counseling and treatment while he serves out his probation at his new home in Hawaii.
After spending about six months in Seattle and Anchorage jails, Weaver spent his time at his 850-tree coffee farm in Hawaii while on release and awaiting possible trial. Wiedner said Weaver is committed to regular mental health counseling and taking his medications while being visited by Hawaiian probation officers.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess expressed concern that more jail time would interrupt Weaver’s mental health treatment. He accepted the plea agreement which included dismissal of one of two counts of possessing an explosive device. But he imposed a condition of probation that prohibits his return to Petersburg or contacting anyone there before 2020.
“He recognizes that nothing good is going to happen to him in Petersburg,” Bottini said.
“I do not want to go back,” said Weaver.
Weaver pled guilty in February.
