Defense asks judge to free Pa. bomb-making suspect
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JOHNSTOWN (AP) – A defense attorney is asking a federal judge to uphold a magistrate’s decision to grant bail to a Russian-born college student accused of building bombs in his central Pennsylvania apartment.
Eighteen-year-old Vladislav Miftakhov, a Penn State-Altoona student, has been jailed since his Jan. 24 arrest.
At a hearing Monday, a federal magistrate said he apparently set off explosions for kicks and didn’t intend to harm anyone. Prosecutors appealed, saying he was a danger to the community and might flee if he is allowed to move back to his family’s home in San Carlos, Calif.
The Mirror in Altoona reports that public defender Christopher Brown is disputing prosecutors’ portrait of his client as a loner, calling him “a bright young man who comes from a loving family.”