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.
The case was investigated by the Odessa Police Department, the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John Klassen is prosecuting
the case on behalf of the Government.
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