Trans Georgia inmate who built bombs and mailed them to DOJ gets 80-year sentence

A Georgia inmate who built two bombs while serving time and mailed them to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and to a federal courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, has been sentenced to 80 years in federal prison. The defendant, who previously identified as David Dwayne Cassady and now goes by Lena Noel Summerlin, is a transgender woman who pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted malicious use of explosive materials.

Federal prosecutors said the devices were made at a state prison in Tattnall County, Georgia, and mailed from the prison to the targeted destinations. The bombs were functional and capable of exploding, according to a plea agreement. The defendant admitted to mailing the devices in retaliation for prison conditions.

The defendant has spent much of the past three decades in and out of Georgia prisons, dating to the early 1990s after being convicted of more than a dozen crimes, including kidnapping and aggravated sodomy. In a sentencing memorandum, defense attorney Tina Maddox described the defendant as suffering from severe anxiety and gender dysphoria, arguing that mental distress and abuse contributed to the conduct. The memorandum noted the defendant now identifies as Lena Noel Summerlin and urged consideration of those factors in determining sentence.

The case was prosecuted as a federal matter because the targets were a federal courthouse and the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling said the devices posed a threat not only to the recipients but to anyone who might unknowingly transport or deliver them, emphasizing the broader risk to the public and the mail system. Rodney Hopkins, the inspector in charge of the Atlanta division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said the defendant intended to incite fear among the targets and the public at large.

The sentencing underscores ongoing federal efforts to deter the construction and distribution of explosive devices in prison environments and to protect the integrity of federal facilities and the mail system. While the defendant’s legal team highlighted mental health and abuse issues, prosecutors conveyed that the act reflected a deliberate attempt to pressure and intimidate institutions and workers connected to the U.S. government.