NEWPORT — A Claremont man diagnosed with schizophrenia was sentenced to prison this week after he admitted to throwing a homemade bomb into a house and threatening the residents inside.
Dalton Rowe, 29, pleaded guilty to felony counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, and possession of an infernal machine during a court appearance Wednesday. Prosecutors dropped one resisting arrest charge and one burglary charge as part of the plea deal this week.
In accordance with the deal, Sullivan County Superior Court Judge Brian Tucker sentenced Rowe to one year for each of the first two charges and a suspended 3½- to seven-year sentence for the infernal device charge.
Rowe, who has been incarcerated since his arrest in October, has 141 days of jail credit, meaning he could end up serving less than two years in prison.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit with his wrists bound, the Claremont man hung his head and rocked slightly on his heels as he addressed the court Wednesday. Rowe said he has past issues with drugs and alcohol, and that he’s currently being treated for schizophrenia.
“I’m sorry for the crimes … for what happened,” Rowe said. “I’m doing much better now.”
His attorney, Ben St. Pierre, said Rowe was intoxicated and off his medication and that his symptoms of mental illness were “fairly active” when he arrived at the house on Chellis Street around 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22.
After Rowe went into the house, yelling for his “significant other,” one of the tenants told him the woman wasn’t around, according to prosecutors. In response, he pulled two knives out of his sleeve and threatened her and other tenants, Deputy County Attorney Justin Hersh said Wednesday.
Several residents were able to get Rowe out of the house, but he returned around 20 minutes later and threw a homemade device at the building, causing what one resident described as a “big flame,” Hersh said.
When police arrived, they found gunpowder next to two propane pipes that were outside the house, and they arrested Rowe, who was walking a short distance away.
“He was in rough shape when officers encountered him that evening,” Hersh said in court, adding that Rowe tried to injure himself several times in his jail cell, and that it was clear the he was intoxicated. “He’s absolutely suffering substance abuse issues.”
Hersh stressed the seriousness of the crime, which he said could have had a “very dangerous outcome” and noted Rowe’s criminal history, which includes misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, simple assault and one DWI.
But St. Pierre told the judge the incident was “out of character” for Rowe, who he said did not intend to follow through on his threats to harm anyone while brandishing the knives.
“It is not as serious as the crime could have been,” St. Pierre said.
As part of the sentencing agreement, Rowe will be considered to undergo a substance abuse treatment program during his second year in prison. If he completes the program, he may be given an early work release or allowed to return home with an ankle monitor, Hersh said in an interview following the hearing.
Before he was taken back to prison Wednesday, Rowe told the judge the mental health treatment he’s received in jail has been helping.
“I feel like a whole new person, actually,” he said.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.