A Silicon Valley engineer was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Tuesday for bombing electrical transformers, causing widespread outages.
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman sentenced Peter Karasev, 39, of San Jose, Calif., for the 2022 and 2023 attacks on Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) facilities.
Karasev pleaded guilty on April 20 to two counts of willful destruction of an energy facility. Court records indicate he admitted that on Dec. 8, 2022, and Jan. 5, 2023, he willfully damaged the energy facilities.
“Karasev’s attacks on critical infrastructure were direct threats to public safety and national security,” said U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian for the Northern District of California. “He aimed to inflict widespread disruption and harm, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to holding accountable those who threaten the safety and well-being of the residents of San Jose.”
Prosecutors said that in both attacks, Karasev used homemade explosives to cause significant destruction and widespread power outages in the San Jose area.
The bombings caused more than $200,000 in damages to affected businesses and disrupted service to more than 1,500 households.
The first attack, which happened near the Westfield Oakridge Mall, destroyed the transformer and left more than 1,450 customers without power for nearly 16 hours, according to prosecutors.
The second attack, near the Plaza Del Rey shopping center, damaged a transformer and an adjacent building. It also interrupted power to dozens of residents and businesses, authorities reported.
Of those affected, 15 households were enrolled in a program that requires PG&E to continue electrical services at their location for life-sustaining medical needs, according to prosecutors.
Karasev admitted that the attacks were premeditated and deliberate and that he researched on the internet the topics of explosive materials, infrastructure attacks, and geopolitical conflicts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco.
“This defendant admitted to attacking critical infrastructure, which could have harmed people in the San Jose, California community and he will now face the consequences of his actions,” Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division Donald Holstead said in a statement.
PG&E transmission lines cross through mountain terrain in Mendocino County in Northern California on Dec. 19, 2024. (Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times)
When Karasev was arrested on March 1, 2023, law enforcement agents found multiple homemade explosives and more than 300 pounds of explosive materials, hazardous chemicals, firearms, and remote detonation devices in his home, vehicle, and office, according to authorities.
In addition to the prison sentence, Karasev was sentenced to a three-year period of supervised release and ordered to pay nearly $215,000 in restitution and a $200 special assessment fee. He was immediately detained after the sentencing.
