Man pleads guilty to explosives use tied to abortion clinic

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A homeless man has pleaded guilty to criminal use of explosives after he went to apply for a job a Wichita abortion clinic with a small bottle of gunpowder and a wick in his backpack.

Moises R. Trevizo Jr., 20, admitted Monday to the charge, which stemmed from his arrest in August, The Wichita Eagle reported (http://bit.ly/1VUH7x2 ). His trial had been scheduled to start the same day, and he is now scheduled to be sentenced June 24 in Sedgwick County District Court.

The explosives charge carries a sentence of 17 to 19 months, Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office spokesman Dan Dillon told The Associated Press on Tuesday. But because Trevizo has no criminal record, he likely will be placed on probation.

Trevizo went to the South Wind Women's Center, which opened in 2013 in the building where Dr. George Tiller provided abortions before being killed in 2009, in August to apply for a job. A security guard at the clinic discovered the homemade explosive device, along with clothing and several knives, while searching the man's backpack, which police said held everything Trevizo owned.

A precautionary evacuation was ordered for the clinic, a building that has long been the site of anti-abortion violence; Tiller was shot and wounded there in 1993, and it was bombed in 1996.

Authorities quickly ruled out the chance that Trevizo might be a protester involved in a bomb threat. Police had said Trevizo didn't mean any harm, and that device was too small to damage the clinic.

Trevizo remains in Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of bond, according to jail records.

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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com

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The Gayly - 4/26/2016 @ 3:40 p.m. CDT