PEORIA, Ill. – A Chillicothe man was sentenced to more than what prosecutors wanted after admitting to a firebombing of the Planned Parenthood facility in Peoria earlier this year.
A federal judge Tuesday handed Tyler Massengill, 32, ten years in prison after he pleaded guilty in February to Malicious Use of a Fire and an Explosive. Prosecutors wanted 115 months in prison, while Massengill’s defense attorney wanted the equivalent of five years.
Massengill apologized for the crime in court, saying he did it three weeks after the death of his grandmother – whom he called his “best friend” – and hours after a dispute with his father that led to him watching what were called “disturbing” abortion-related videos, drinking, then driving to the facility, breaking a window, and throwing an improvised firebomb inside.
Watching the videos “sent me in a bad way,” Massengill said in court.
Federal Judge James Shadid described the crime as both intentional and spontaneous. Shadid, while saying he appreciated Massengill’s apology, also used words to describe him like “self-absorbed” and “misguided”, and that Massengill had a history of doing what he wanted without regard to others.
If, as Massengill claimed, he was anti-abortion and angry over one he believed an acquaintance had, Shadid told him firebombing the clinic was not the way to protest.
Defense attorneys focused on Massengill’s childhood, for which it was claimed the defendant suffered both physical and mental abuse that led to drug and alcohol addictions, resulting in one successful and several more failed treatment programs. A psychological exam claims Massengill suffers from PTSD, ADHD, depression, and polysubstance abuse.
“(I) lost my childhood,” said Massengill.
Prosecutors focused on much the same, along with an extensive criminal record for Massengill.
Massengill was ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution to Planned Parenthood. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence before release can be considered. Massengill’s attorney requested that he be allowed to serve his sentence at the federal prison in Pekin.
