Montgomery, Alabama – Today, Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart announced the sentencing of a Dothan man for detonating a truck bomb in an attempt to kill the driver. On November 4, 2021, Sylvio Joeseph King, 48, was sentenced to 108 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. King previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and the malicious use of an explosive device in October of 2020.
According to the factual basis contained in the plea agreement and court records from his co-defendant’s trial, King worked at Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan with co-defendant Ashley Nicole Haydt, 36, from Taylor, Alabama. King developed a friendship with Haydt during their time working together and she told King of her relationship and custody issues with a former boyfriend. Haydt would frequently communicate to King her hatred of the ex-boyfriend and how the custody dispute was impacting her and her other children.
Evidence presented at Haydt’s trial showed that she provided King with her ex-boyfriend’s address and, in the early morning hours of October 23, 2017, King placed an explosive device in the ex’s work truck and detonated the bomb while the victim was driving to work. Thankfully, the victim survived. Haydt was convicted for her role in the conspiracy after a four-day trial in October 2021. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 1, 2022.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, the Dothan Police Department, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Brandon Bates and Chelsea Phillips prosecuted the case.
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