Bettendorf man who allegedly made bomb threats sentenced for release violation

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By Tory Brecht | Saturday, August 18, 2007 12:00 AM CDT | () comments

A federal judge ordered a man who allegedly threatened to blow up the Bettendorf Police Department back to prison for two years for violating the terms of his supervised release.

America Yegile Haileselassie, 28, of Bettendorf, received the maximum possible sentence from Judge John Jarvey for violating the terms of his release. After serving the 24 months, he will remain on supervised release for another 12 months, under the terms of the sentencing.

Jarvey heard testimony from Haileselassie’s psychiatrist, Dr. William Nissen of the Vera French Community Mental Health center, who said the defendant has an anti-social personality disorder.

People with the disorder know right from wrong but believe the rules don’t apply to them, Nissen testified.

“They have a basic disregard for the rights of other people,” he said, adding that there is no effective treatment for the disorder.

Haileselassie has a felony conviction of arson and was on supervised release after spending 33 months in federal prison after being convicted of threatening to blow up a Washington, D.C., metro station in 2004. He has a long record of misdemeanor offenses that include harassment, trespass, filing false police reports and disorderly conduct.

He now also faces state charges of harassment, filing false reports and arson threats in connection with the Bettendorf threat. Those charges are pending.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Westphal noted that Haileselassie was released from prison in September 2006, and by February 2007, he had already resumed his pattern of making threatening phone calls, including the ones he was arrested for in Bettendorf after threatening to blow up the police station.

“There’s been one thing, and one thing only that’s stopped his behavior, and that’s being in prison,” Westphal told the judge.

Haileselassie’s defense attorney, Steven Berger, sought a lesser sentence of eight to 12 months, saying his client has no history of violent behavior.

During testimony, Nissen confirmed that Haileselassie’s behavior was “more attention-seeking than destructive.”

Berger also asked the psychiatrist whether his client’s hearing impairment may have played a role in the development or seriousness of his anti-social personality disorder.

Nissen said there is no evidence that the hearing-impaired have higher incidences of the disorder but did say hearing problems may have led to more social isolation.

Jarvey said he based the severity of the sentence on the need to protect the public from future crimes by Haileselassie.

“Mr. Westphal is right, nothing but incarceration will stop him,” Jarvey said.

The judge said he would recommend that Haileselassie be placed in a federal medical facility for the term of his imprisonment but left the decision up to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.