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Phony bombs get man 15 years

By CHRIS TISCH
Published July 27, 2006

An Oldsmar man charged with sending his neighbors threatening letters with white powder and putting fake explosives at a post office and a hotel has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

David P. Vice, 43, pleaded no contest Tuesday to four charges of using a hoax bomb during a 32-hour frenzy in January 2005. He faced a minimum of just over eight years in prison; the maximum punishment was 50 years.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Dee Anna Farnell sentenced Vice to 15 years in prison during a plea hearing at which he made comments about the war in Iraq and conspiracies of the origins of the Sept. 11 attacks, said his attorney, Joseph Hobson.

Hobson said he considered using an insanity defense, but Vice would not let him.

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies arrested Vice on Jan. 23, 2005, after several neighbors found envelopes filled with powder in their mailboxes. Deputies also were called to a Holiday Inn Express to inspect a possible explosive device and to a local post office, where a fake hand grenade had been attached to a package.

Deputies said Vice was responsible for the envelopes and the fake bombs.

Hobson said Vice committed the acts to protest the war in Iraq and because he believes he is a messenger from God.

Vice, his wife, Lisa, and their four sons moved to Oldsmar in 1998.

The next year, after Vice quit his job, he changed, neighbors said. Vice bought a black Corvette and a military-issue Hummer, and he spent late nights working on it.

Vice's home at 520 Cypress View Drive has been foreclosed on, according to court records. Lisa Vice could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Staff writer Nicole Johnson contributed to this report.

[Last modified July 27, 2006, 06:03:29]