Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com
Monday, Dec. 8, 2003

Paul Douglas Revak, a 20-year-old college student originally faced a life sentence on a charge of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. military bases, but was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of trying to obtain explosives which carries a sentence of anywhere from six months up to 10 years.

In federal court in Seattle Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik freed Revak after sentencing him to five years probation according to Katherine Schiffner an Everett Washington Herald reporter. Revak was also ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling and to appear in court twice a year to review his progress. He also ordered that all Revak's computer use be monitored.

In handing down the sentence Lesnik acknowledged the severity of Revak's crime saying that his plans to bomb the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Bellingham and other military targets were more than merely empty threats by a 20-year-old.

"This plot to kill and injure people originated by Mr. Revak, and he took concrete steps" to obtain bomb making explosives, hand grenades and a gun, , Lasnik said, adding. "People who think this is an immature act are missing the boat."

Then, in an astonishing admission that the youth he was freeing might be a future threat to the community, the Herald reported that Lasnik said that Revak's psychological profile shows he may have mental health problems. As a result he ordered Revak to obtain treatment as one of the conditions of his probation.

Revak, he said, is "a young man of promise and potential," but also that he has difficulty accepting that description with the same man he heard on undercover federal tapes trying to get weapons.

'Crossroads'

"I think he's a man who's at a crossroads, and he may not be able to control what happens next," Lasnik said. And, the Herald reported, he added that Revak was frequently hazed by high school classmates and was reported to have once threatened to kill a cheerleader, according to his psychological profile.

"The profile is of someone more likely to end up as a Columbine shooter than a merit scholar," Lasnik said.

Despite those frightening facts, Lasnik said he believed that probation rather than a long stay in prison was the best solution.

According to the Herald, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Hamilton, who allowed Revak to plea bargain the charge down, wanted Revak , who has been in custody since his arrest in June, kept in prison for and additional nine to 10 more months, but added that he was satisfied with the decision.

"He perfectly articulated the concerns we had, and Mr. Revak has gotten a clear message," Hamilton said. "It's our hope he'll go through the mental health counseling ordered by the court, and whatever caused him to act in the way he did will be dealt with."

'Anarchist'

As NewsMax.com has previously reported, Revak, a self-described "anarchist" who had given a fellow student a declaration of war against the U.S. government had talked about bombing Washington's Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor and the Washington Air National Guard and the Army National Guard stations in Bellingham. International Airport.

When Federal agents searched his dorm room they found camouflage hats, face paint, black gloves, a ski mask, a walkie-talkie and bolt cutters.

Lasnik told the court "I'm really sorry about this. I never really wanted to hurt anybody." I had a lot of political ideas that I believed in, and that got the best of me."

Thanks to the Justice Department, the man Judge Lasnik said he fears could end up as a "Columbine" shooter is now free to allow his violent ideas to "get the best" of him.

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