Wednesday, March 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
A Las Vegas man who purchased bombs to blow up two Las Vegas casinos and assassinate their attorney has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Jeffrey Tenpenny, 31, had been pursuing a vendetta he held against The Mirage, the Golden Nugget and attorney Carolyn Ellsworth when he bought the explosives from undercover agents June 22, 1995.
The Las Vegas man, who had sued the Golden Nugget after being injured in a hotel elevator, had become frustrated by the repeated postponement of the trial, witnesses said during Tuesday's sentencing.
Calling Tenpenny's plans horrific, U.S. District Judge Philip Pro sentenced him to the maximum penalty, adding that "God only knows what might have happened" had Tenpenny been working with "misfits" and not undercover agents.
Tenpenny will spend the next 87 months behind bars for purchasing the bombs, using methamphetamine and possessing a firearm as an ex-felon.
Tenpenny had agreed to buy the bombs from undercover agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms prior to his arrest.
The government never pursued charges against Tenpenny for statements made that he wanted to shoot Ellsworth.
Assistant U.S. Public Defender Leslie Fatowe characterized Tenpenny as a "braggart" who never would have acted on his plan that grew out of frustration with the personal-injury suit.
"I was mostly trying to vent out what I was feeling inside," said Tenpenny, who blames his epilepsy and memory loss on the elevator accident.
Tenpenny's civil attorney, William Brenski, and the defendant's mother, uncle and fiance all testified that the threats were harmless.
"I was concerned that his mouth would lead him into trouble and somebody would believe what he was saying," Brenski said.
But Ellsworth and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom O'Connell urged the judge to not dismiss Tenpenny's statements and action as mere puffery.
Ellsworth said she was shocked by the extent of Tenpenny's plans for her and her family. Upon learning of them, the attorney said she temporarily removed her children, now ages 9 and 11, from Las Vegas.
Ellsworth said she has tried to shield her children from the truth, but said her daughter has awakened from nightmares that someone may kill her mother.
O'Connell questioned Tenpenny's claim that the casino elevator accident caused an abrupt personality change and offered proof that the defendant had been using drugs since age 11 and had a criminal record since 15.
The personal-injury suit, which originally sought millions of dollars from the casino, elevator manufacturer and service company, was settled after Tenpenny's arrest. The amount of the settlement was confidential, but Pro used it as the basis for issuing a fine of $4,500.
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