With his family looking on Tuesday, a contrite Lamar D. Howard was handed a five-year prison sentence in federal court for his role in the attempted firebombing of the Kentucky Probation and Parole Office in Glasgow.

Howard, 19, of Glasgow received the mandatory minimum sentence from U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell after Howard read a handwritten statement apologizing for his actions and attempting to explain them as the result of entering into a tailspin following the death of his sister.

“I realize and understand what I did was wrong,” Howard said Tuesday. “As a young man … for the most part I tried to stay out of trouble, but I got caught up in the wrong crowds and went down the wrong path in my life.”

Howard admitted to attempting to destroy on Feb. 10 the probation and parole office with a Molotov cocktail, using a liquor bottle filled with gasoline with a sock as a homemade wick. He also admitted to making another of the explosive devices at his Race Street residence with a juvenile and allowing that person to throw the second device that day at the office at 100 Reynolds Road.

He pleaded guilty July 6 to two counts of aiding and abetting the malicious attempt to damage and destroy federal property and one count of possession of a destructive device in connection with a third Molotov cocktail found by federal investigators in a field near the office.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommended between 78 and 97 months (61/2 years to 8 years and one month) in prison for Howard, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Calhoun recommended.

Calhoun said the Molotov cocktails were made and thrown at the probation and parole office in an attempt to destroy evidence of a failed urinalysis, which Howard was required to give as part of the terms of his probation following a 2008 conviction in Barren County on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and driving under the influence.

One of the bottles crashed through a window of the office and ignited, causing some damage to the office. The other bottle landed in the office without igniting.

“But for his poor ability to make the Molotov cocktail, the damage could’ve been greater than it was,” Calhoun said.

Howard’s attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Jamie Haworth, said the sentence sought by federal prosecutors was too severe for a teenager with no prior felony convictions who had struggled emotionally since the loss of his sister, Brittany, to leukemia at age 20 in 2007.

A sentencing memorandum filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green argued that the death of Howard’s sister caused him to go into a depression, and that he was at her hospital bed talking to her when she died without him realizing it. When he was informed of her death, Howard had a seizure, the document stated.

“He does not feel that he has ever come to terms with her death,” the memorandum said. “His family members all agree that this was a turning point for Lamar and he lost all interest in things he had previously loved doing.”

In court Tuesday, Haworth argued that the mandatory minimum of five years was a significant enough punishment for Howard, and requested that he be able to undergo grief counseling and drug counseling.

“I think, bottom line, that a 60-month sentence is too harsh for his age,” Haworth said. “I don’t see where 18 (additional) months will do anything extra that a 60-month sentence can’t.”

Howard told Russell that he was prepared to accept his punishment for his actions.

“I’m sorry for the embarrassment I caused my family and, to my beautiful daughter, I’m sorry for not being there when it matters the most,” said Howard, the father of a 2-year-old girl.

Russell agreed with the defense’s argument that Howard did not pose a future risk for violence and that adverse circumstances in his life led him to commit those crimes.

In addition to the five-year sentence, Howard is also subject to three years of supervised release after serving his sentence. Russell granted the requests for drug and grief counseling for Howard and ordered that he be housed in a facility close enough for his family to visit.

As he was led away from the courtroom, Howard said “I love y’all” to his family, who trailed closely behind.

“I thought that was a fair sentence – he wasn’t going to get off scot-free,” said Danny Bradley, Howard’s father, after the hearing. “He’s a good kid.”