Wednesday, November 16, 2016
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Curtis Allen 49, (L to R), Gavin Wright, 49 and Patrick Eugene Stein, 47 are shown in these booking photos in Wichita, Kansas provided October 15, 2016. Photo courtesy of Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office via Reuters
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas man accused in a bomb plot targeting Somali immigrants in western Kansas tried to use another inmate to sneak a letter out of jail that identified the confidential informant in his case, law enforcement authorities testified Tuesday.
Searches of Patrick Stein’s cell at the Butler County Detention Facility also turned up papers that referenced plans for “a small man team” overtaking the jail and cutting power to the facility, said Deputy U.S. Marshall Troy Oberly. Authorities also found detailed maps of the jail along with a list of correction officers that included their work schedules and a ranking for each, Oberly said.
Authorities contend Stein is an escape risk. The details emerged in a hastily called hearing amid defense attorney Ed Robinson’s concerns that the searches may have scooped up confidential attorney-client communications.
The government says Stein is one of three men who conspired to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex where 120 Somali immigrants live in the meatpacking town of Garden City. The plot was never carried out. Stein and the other men have pleaded not guilty.
Among the items authorities said they found were love letters written to guards at the jail.
“What concerns me is when you have an inmate trying to write letters to guards, they are trying to gain influence,” Oberly testified.