Gerald Drake sentenced for planting pipe bomb at Cedar Creek Battlefield

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The Western Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Gerald Leonard Drake, the man who reportedly planted a pipe bomb at a Cedar Creek Battlefield and allegedly mailing threatening letters, was sentenced to federal prison.

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According to a press release, Drake admitted he manufactured the pipe bomb to instill fear and cause harm to those attending the reenactment. Drake also admitted to writing the threatening letters sent to members of the CCBF and various news agencies between September 2017 and December 2018, according to the press release. Those letters included threats of violence and sexual assault against members of the CCBF and their families.

The Western Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Drake was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, made the announcement.