Crime
Prosecutors said Logan Patterson and Dominick Cardoza detonated what is believed to have been “a large commercial firework” inside a Harvard building.
Two Massachusetts men pleaded guilty Friday to setting off an explosion at Harvard Medical School last fall after a night of Halloween revelry.
Logan David Patterson, 18, of Plymouth, and Dominick Frank Cardoza, 20, of Bourne, agreed to a plea deal in exchange for prosecutors recommending a lighter sentence, according to court filings. Each man had been charged with conspiracy to damage, by means of an explosive, a building owned or operated by an institution receiving federal funding.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said prison time would not be required under the sentencing guidelines outlined in the plea deal, though prosecutors recommended three years of supervised release, an unspecified fine, and full restitution to Harvard. The conspiracy charge is typically punishable by up to five years in prison.
Patterson and Cardoza will face sentencing Aug. 4.
Surveillance video showed the pair lighting what appeared to be roman candle fireworks near Harvard Medical School’s campus early on Nov. 1, according to charging documents. The men then climbed over a chain-link fence and scaled scaffolding to access the roof of the university’s Goldenson Building on Longwood Avenue in Boston.
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley previously said Patterson and Cardoza detonated an explosive believed to have been “a large commercial firework” within a wooden locker inside Goldenson. The explosion triggered a fire alarm, but Harvard officials said it caused no injuries or structural damage.
Witnesses recognized Patterson and Cardoza in images shared by police, telling investigators the pair were visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology for Halloween festivities.
Attorneys for the two men did not respond to requests for comment Friday, but Stefan Rozembersky, an attorney for Cardoza, told WCVB the pair didn’t set out to target Harvard in particular.
“This was, as you heard, … shooting fireworks off on the street,” Rozembersky told the news outlet. “They noticed that they could get into a building, and that’s all it was.”
Added Patterson’s attorney, Kevin Reddington: “I’m sure you’ve heard of the concept and the law of developing brains, and when kids are kids their brains aren’t developed and they do stupid things, as we all did.”
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