DENVER—A man accused of planting a homemade bomb at a Denver-area shopping mall a week after he was released from federal prison pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of using a destructive device and arson.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd Boland ordered Earl Albert Moore, 65, held without bail noting Moore’s previous convictions, which include escape and bank robbery.
Moore did not speak at the hearing. He is scheduled to go on trial July 11.
Moore’s public defender, Robert Pepin, made the plea on Moore’s behalf. On Thursday, a federal grand jury indicted Moore on the destructive device charge, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison, as well as arson. U.S. attorney spokesman Jeff Dorschner said Moore faces a minimum of 35 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
In a previous court hearing, Pepin revealed that Moore was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and hepatitis C and asked that Moore receive medical treatment while in federal custody. Pepin said Moore is not asking to be released from custody.
Moore is accused of starting a fire at Southwest Plaza Mall on April 20, which raised fears the incident was timed to coincide with the 12th anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. Authorities found a pipe bomb and two small propane tanks in the mall—devices that bore some similarities to the Columbine attacks.
Authorities now say the fire was unrelated to Columbine, but they have not released a motive. Moore, who has spent 18 of the past 27 years bouncing through federal prisons, was arrested April 26 at a grocery in Boulder following a nationwide manhunt.
Still unanswered is why Moore traveled more than 1,400 miles after his April 13 release from federal prison in Estill, S.C., to the mall in Littleton, said federal authorities who have declined to release details.
The bomb components, matches and debris were sent to an FBI laboratory in Virginia. DNA found on the material matched Moore’s DNA profile in a national database.
Court records show that Moore—who lived in Colorado at least part-time from the mid-1980s to 2004, including five years at a federal prison at Englewood—has a history of offenses dating back to 1966, when he was 20, including allegations involving firearms and explosives.
In his latest prison stint, Moore served time after pleading guilty in May 2005 to robbing a Crab Orchard, W.Va., bank of $2,546.
Moore was also sentenced to five years of supervised release in that case. Fred Bach, chief federal probation officer for Colorado, said Moore was supposed to report to West Virginia within 72 hours of his April 13 release but didn’t.
