US Soldier Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Illegally Manufacturing a Chemical Weapon
A New Llano, Louisiana, soldier who pleaded guilty to making and detonating a chemical weapon was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday, federal authorities said.
The blast, set off by Ryan Keith Taylor last year near the Fort Polk Army post, emitted chlorine gas, badly injuring two soldiers, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
"Taylor produced and detonated a chemical bomb near Fort Polk, causing injury to his fellow soldiers who responded to and investigated the incident," said Assistant Attorney General Demers.
Demers adds, "Today's sentence holds Taylor accountable for his crime and makes clear that we will not tolerate such conduct. I want to thank the agents and prosecutors who are responsible for this result and our military and local law enforcement partners for their significant contributions to this investigation."
It wasn't clear why Taylor detonated the bomb on the morning of April 12, 2017, in Kisatchie National Forest, east of Fort Polk, where he was stationed.
After three soldiers conducting a training exercise heard the explosion — and found Taylor filming it with his cell phone — they reported the incident to military police, the release said.
Taylor told one of the soldiers he'd been lighting firecrackers, The Associated Press reported.
According to the June 11 guilty plea, Taylor later admitted to detonating an explosive device containing chlorine gas.
A responding investigator collecting samples from the site placed a rock covered in an "unknown substance" in a plastic bag that immediately popped.
"The investigator's plastic gloves and boots began to melt," the release said. "He also began to experience difficulty breathing and his skin started burning."
During the search, investigators found remnants of the explosive device and chlorine residue, which one investigator inhaled and touched, causing him to be hospitalized.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement agents found bomb-making notes, materials and chemical residue in Taylor's vehicle, apartment, and storage building.
The two victims who inhaled the chlorine gas were treated multiple times for their injuries and effectively ended their military careers.
The military's lead investigator, Joshua Farbro, told The American Press of Lake Charles, Louisiana, last month that the injuries ended his career.
"In one single day I went from being in peak physical fitness to having 20 percent lung capacity at 25 years old," Farbro told the newspaper. "My military career was over and now I'm told that I'm too much of a medical liability to be considered for employment in any capacity. Everything I had worked so hard for, given my all for, was ripped away from me."
