Latest Legal News from the Federal Criminal Courts in the United States

April 25, 2007

San Antonio- ODESSA PAIR PLEAD GUILTY TO ILLEGAL POSSESSION, USE OF MOLOTOV COCKTAIL

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that Zachary Waid Lackey, 20, and James Craig Light, 21, each of Odessa, Texas, pleaded guilty this week to federal charges related to their illegal possession of an incendiary device commonly known as a "Molotov cocktail." Each faces up to ten (10) years in prison when they are sentenced in June.

In his plea before United States Magistrate Judge L. Stuart Platt yesterday afternoon, Lackey admitted that he manufactured a "Molotov cocktail" last October by placing gasoline in a beer bottle and stuffing a rag into the bottle to use as a wick. He further admitted that he lit the rag and threw the bottle in the direction of a group of people standing in a carport in the 200 block of East Carver on October 6, 2006, one of whom Lackey believed was a man with whom he was involved in a dispute. The "Molotov" cocktail burst into flames upon impact, injuring a bystander named John Brooks, who suffered burns on his arm and hand. Brooks, who was treated at a local hospital and released, was not involved in any dispute with Lackey.
In his plea this morning before Judge Platt, Light admitted that he aided and abetted Lackey by driving him to the 200 block of East Carver with full knowledge of what Lackey intended to do. He also acknowledged participating in the assault by chasing persons on the carport with a tire iron.

It is a violation of federal law for these defendants to posses this incendiary device.