Finley man gets two years in prison in CBC bomb threat probe

A Finley man who called in several fake bomb threats to Columbia Basin College in Pasco has been sentenced to two years in prison for possessing firearms later found in his home during the investigation.

Steven Eugene Brown, 54, already was a convicted felon at the time of the July 2013 search, which was six days after he made the threats to avoid taking a placement test on the Pasco campus.

Brown acknowledged that because of his criminal history he was not allowed to own or possess firearms. Authorities found ammunition, four rifles and a pistol in his bedroom. Some of the firearms were loaded; none of them was secure.

A Benton County Superior Court judge senteced Brown for his guilty plea to first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty in October.

The two-year term handed down by Judge Cameron Mitchell is an exceptional sentence below the standard range of three to four years for the crime.

Mitchell granted the request that Brown’s sentence be served together with his one-year, three-month term ordered in September in his federal case for willfully making a threat with explosive materials. Brown already has done his time in that case, so he may only have to do several more months behind bars.

The shorter sentence in the firearms case was granted because Brown was temporarily living in the home at the time of the search, and some of the seized firearms were registered to his son and estranged wife, court documents said. The court also concluded that “the firearms were an incidental find and not related to the federal offense.”

On July 18, 2013, Brown called CBC and told an employee, “This is a bomb threat. Bomb is going to go off in the H Building and one other place.” The staff member notified campus security, who then called police.

A call also was made to Townsquare Media in Pasco, which operates several local radio stations. The caller again mentioned bombs at CBC.

School officials immediately evacuated the Pasco and Richland campuses and shut down all operations for most of the day. Meanwhile, authorities searched for explosive devices but found nothing.

Brown was arrested July 24 at his home after police tracked a cellphone used to call in the threats.

Brown was not a CBC student at the time. He was on disability, had been scheduled to take a placement test regarding benefits and an eventual attempt to regain employment, and he reportedly was anxious about it.

Authorities said Brown had been scheduled to take the test multiple times before and didn’t show up.

Brown entered a guilty plea last summer in federal court for the bomb threats. Documents said the case resolved with Brown taking responsibility after extensive negotiation between federal prosecutors and the defense.

Brown’s criminal history also includes felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and second-degree burglary.

This story was originally published February 7, 2015 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Finley man gets two years in prison in CBC bomb threat probe."