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Former Liebert employee found guilty
Published 9:43am Wednesday, October 24, 2012A former Liebert employee faces up to three years in prison for threatening to shoot members of management and place bombs in the Ironton-based business.
In a one-day trial Monday, a jury found David Laber, 40, of 152 Township Road 606, Ironton, guilty of third-degree making terroristic threats in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.
Laber was arrested Aug. 1 after a fellow employee told authorities the man allegedly had told her he had thought about shooting people who worked for the company, specifically naming two members of management.
According to an Ironton Police Department report, Laber asked the co-worker “if she ever thought about putting bombs in Liebert.” Laber reportedly told his coworker he would “start with the front office” and would do it “like the guy in Colorado,” referring to mass shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., July 20.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mack Anderson said the maximum prison sentence for third-degree felonies is three years in prison, and that he would ask the judge for Laber to be sentenced to that or close to the maximum.
Anderson said this was the first terroristic threats case he had prosecuted.
“You have to take them seriously nowadays,” Anderson said, citing various shootings at colleges, the Aurora movie theater, and last week’s shooting at a spa in Wisconsin.
Judge Charles Cooper asked for a pre-sentence investigation in the case and set sentencing for Oct. 31.
Laber was represented by attorney Scott Evans.
This appears to be an angry employee venting his anger to a co-worker about Liebert management. The verdict is quite surprising. If I were a jurer, I likely would not believe ‘hear say’ from a co-worder unless she/he taped the conversation on a phone or other device and it could be confirmed beyond any doubt. I do not think any jury can predict whether he would act on those threats or if he was simply venting.
Verbally talking about something in anger and taking action are two big extremes in finding someone guilty, especially three years in prison. Reminds me of the old days when citizens were being accused of being communist and had to watch every word they said.
We’ve got this guy who never ‘acted’ on any threats and yet we have a county FULL of neighborhood terroists who constantly harrass, aggravate, steal, vandalize and threaten citizens daily and nothing is done about them.
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