David Ansberry Resentenced For Time Served In Nederland Bomb Case

left failed bomb resentenced to time served

NEDERLAND, Colo. (AP/CBS4) — A man who left a homemade bomb outside a police station in Nederland had his sentence reduced to time served Thursday following a successful appeal. U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello issued the new sentence for David Ansberry following a re-sentencing hearing, according to court documents.

Ansberry was originally sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2019 for leaving the device, which did not explode, outside the Nederland police station in 2016. He pleaded guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property.

At the time, Arguello sided with the government in treating his actions as a form of terrorism. Ansberry, from San Rafael, California, said he did it as an act of revenge for the killing of a friend by the former Nederland town marshal back in 1971 at a bar called the Pioneer Inn.

The town marshal in 1971 was Renner Forbes. He eventually confessed to the murder of Guy Goughnor, also known as "Deputy Dawg." He was part of a group known as STP. Ansberry was also part of that group, although he was known then as Midget Jesse, due to his 3-foot-6 height.

In 2020, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Ansberry to be re-sentenced. It said Arguello could only add a terrorism sentencing enhancement in re-sentencing Ansberry if she determined the shooting of Ansberry's friend was official government conduct.

It also said said the police officer who first discovered the bomb could not be considered a victim of the crime in determining a sentence.

(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)