For Immediate Release  
 Contact: Tracy Hite  
 (415) 744-7001 or  
 (415) 469-3245
                                                Date: February 10, 1998

   

                Bakersfield Abortion Clinic Arsonist
                        Sentenced to 15 Years 

    
 Defendant: Peter Andrew Howard, 44 years old 

 Incident: On march 17, 1997, Howard drove a pickup truck loaded with over 90
 gallons of gasoline, numerous gasoline containers, three propane tanks and a
 gasoline soaked hemp rope into the family Planning Associates Medical Group in
 Bakersfield, California. Howard lit the rope with a butane lighter and attempted to
 create an explosion that would destroy the clinic, putting it out of business. 

 Sentence: Howard was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Robert E.
 Coyle to 15 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $16,320.87 in restitution. 

 Participating: The Bakersfield Police Department, the Bakersfield Fire Department,
 Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Attorney's Office, and the Bureau
 of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms worked jointly to perfect this investigation. 

 The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms remains committed to
 pursuing anyone who would violate federal firearms and/or explosives laws
 and risk injuring or killing others in furtherance of a cause. 

 For more information about ATF's efforts in the investigation of arson and
 explosives incidents against abortion clinics and reproductive service providers,
 please see the ATF web site at www.atf.treas.gov.