Florida Man Gets Busted Planting Car Bomb in FBI Sting

By Glynnesha Taylor

ticklethewire.com

Surely John Nicholas Coors thought it was a good idea to plant a bomb in a car for an $8,000 fee. Only problem was that it really wasn’t a good idea. The person offering the cash was actually an undercover FBI agent.

On Monday, Coors, of Brandenton, Fla., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tampa to one count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

During an undercover investigation, the FBI learned that Coors was claiming that he could build explosive devices with nitroglycerin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

On April 23, an undercover FBI agent picked up Coors, 21, and they went to a Tampa hotel where Coors said he would build an explosive device, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. In an adjoining room, agents monitored everything with audio and video equipment.

Authorities said Coors showed the agent how to work, build and improve the explosive device. He also showed the agent the locksmith tools he’d use to break into the victim’s vehicle to plant the bomb, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

From the hotel, Coors and the agent drove to Tampa to plant the bomb.

Coors broke into the vehicle, which was a “dummy” planted by the FBI, and installed the device. He then returned to the undercover vehicle, where he waited for the victim, authorities said.

Around 11:30 p.m., after the “victim” — another undercover agent — got into the vehicle, Coors pressed the the button that was supposed to set off the explosion, authorities said.

But the FBI substituted an “inert material” for the real explosives, so the bomb never went off, authorities said.

“The quick reporting of suspicious activities by citizens in this case, together with the diligent reaction by the JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) in following those leads, took out of action a dangerous individual that was willing to cause a real tragedy in our community,” U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton said in a statement.