White supremacist gets 40 years in 2004 Scottsdale bombing

A federal court judge on Tuesday imposed a 40-year sentence on a White  supremacist who was behind a 2004 bombing that seriously injured Scottsdale’s  diversity director.

A jury found Dennis Mahon, 61, guilty in February of conspiracy to damage  buildings and property by means of explosives, malicious damage of a building by  means of explosives, and distribution of information related to explosives.

Mahon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the first two counts and 33  months for the third count, all to be served concurrently

His twin brother, Daniel, was found not guilty of a single count, conspiracy  to damage buildings and property.

Dennis Mahon maintained his innocence in court moments before he was  sentenced.

“I didn’t do this crime. I can’t apologize for something I didn’t do,” he  said.

A pipe bomb was addressed to then-Diversity Director Don Logan, who is Black,  and was delivered to his office Feb. 26, 2004.

When Logan opened the cardboard box, the 1-by-5-inch pipe bomb exploded in  his hands, badly injuring him. He has since recovered. Two other city employees  also were injured.

U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell defended the jury’s conclusion that  the case did not warrant conviction of a hate crime.

“The jury was never asked if this was a hate crime,” Campbell said. Instead,  the jury was asked a narrow question on whether they believed Logan was targeted  because he was Black.

“I think there were a lot of motives. All reasons were racial as well. They  were never asked that broad question,” Campbell said. “Mr. Mahon acted to  promote racial discord.”

Mahon’s defense attorney, Deborah Williams, argued that 40 years is  effectively a life sentence for Mahon and “should be reserved for the taking of  a life. That is not the case here.”

During the hearing, Logan said the experience only strengthened his  resolve.

“I wasn’t supposed to survive that attack, but it charted my course that  people deserve equal justice, equal treatment,” said Logan, who retired from  his Scottsdale job in 2007 and now works for Glendale.

Logan said he took the judge’s comments as a de facto hate-crime conviction,  even though it was not classified in that way.

“He didn’t know me; all he hated was what I represented,” Logan said of  Mahon, after Tuesday’s sentencing.

Logan said he was satisfied with the sentence.

During the six-week trial, prosecutors said the Mahon twins carried out the  bombing on behalf of the White Aryan Resistance, an organization that encourages  its members to commit acts of violence against non-Whites.

Prosecutors played racist voice-mail messages that Dennis Mahon left for an  undercover informant in which he called Logan a racial slur.

Source: The Arizona Republic