Powered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Web Search by YAHOO!
 

Updated: 3:03 p.m. Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | Posted: 2:19 p.m. Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Ex-Home Depot worker convicted in $2M extortion plot

By Christopher Seward

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A New York man has been convicted of trying to extort $2 million from Atlanta-based Home Depot by threatening to detonate a pipe bomb at stores last year.

A federal jury convicted Daniel Sheehan, 50, of Deer Park, N.Y., on Monday after two hours of deliberation, according to several published reports. He is a former part-time handy man at a Home Depot on Long Island in Huntington.

Sheehan was charged with attempted extortion and the use of a destructive device. He faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing.

Sheehan’s attorney said his client was depressed over losing work hours and needed the money to help a sick niece.

According to the FBI complaint, Sheehan sent a letter to a Home Depot manager in Huntington last October claiming there was a pipe bomb in a box in the lighting department. The letter said that if Home Depot didn’t pay the $2 million, the sender would shut down all of Home Depot’s stores on Long Island, detonating pipe bombs with roofing nails remotely by using a Trac Fone.

In another letter, Sheehan said he planned to be “wired up like a Christmas tree with 2 devices strapped to a belt and one to a neck chain that I will be wearing,’” the FBI complaint said.

A pipe bomb was later found at the Huntington store and detonated. Prosecutors said Sheehan threatened to detonate more bombs on the day after Thanksgiving, called Black Friday, if he didn’t get the $2 million.

Authorities were able to arrest Sheehan last November after using GPS to track the TracFone he’d used to call in the bomb treats. It was the same phone he used to make followup demands.

More News

 

Today on MyAJC.com

Botanical Garden’s ‘scarecrows’ are stuffed with silliness

Botanical Garden’s ‘scarecrows’ are stuffed with silliness

Native Americans are said to have created the first scarecrows on these shores to protect their corn crops from the scavenging black birds.

Paul Howard

DA’s spending of federal forfeiture money in question

Finances of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office were in such chaos in recent years that even its most basic bills went unpaid.

Comments  (9)  

myajc logo 300x225

New 24-hour Digital Pass: Sample all of MyAJC.com for 99 cents

With a 24-hour digital pass, you can enjoy full versions of premium articles, news updates and access to the AJC online archives.