MAN WHO SET BOOBY TRAP SENTENCED

Courts: Four Consecutive Life Terms Are Given In The Attempted Murder Case.
Officers Were Spared When A Drug Lab's Firebomb Failed To Ignite.

A Newbury Park man was sentenced Wednesday to four consecutive life terms
in prison for setting a booby trap in a methamphetamine lab at his home
before a team of law enforcement agents arrived to investigate.

Bradley Raville, 46, made no statements in court and showed little emotion
as Superior Court Judge Herbert Curtis III imposed the penalties during a
brief hearing, a prosecutor said.

After the sentencing, Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Chris Harman condemned
Raville's actions. "He . . . not only tried to kill these guys, but tried
to ruin their reputations by saying they tried to set him up," Harman said.

A jury convicted Raville in August of three counts of attempted
premeditated murder of a peace officer and one count each of attempted
premeditated murder, operating a methamphetamine lab, possession of drugs
for sale, gun possession and several enhancements, including committing
those crimes while out on bail in another drug case.

Raville's attorney argued that the three Ventura County sheriff's deputies
and an FBI agent who arrived at his client's house June 11, 1998, intended
to plant the booby trap themselves.

Sheriff's Det. Joe Evans, one of the officers, said the accusations against
him and his colleagues were outrageous. Just as unsettling was the
possibility that the men could have been killed.

"I've been a peace officer for 20 years and I've never been on an incident
where one person willingly tried to kill four police officers at one time,"
Evans said Wednesday.

Evans and Sheriff's Capt. Dennis Carpenter both told Curtis in court
Wednesday they wanted Raville locked up for life.

Raville must serve at least 65 years in prison before he becomes eligible
for parole, Harman said.

According to authorities, Raville and his girlfriend had an argument at her
apartment, and a neighbor called police, who arrived after Raville left.

The girlfriend told deputies the couple had argued over drugs and Raville
had an active lab inside a small workshop on his parents' back patio,
unknown to the parents.

The girlfriend also warned deputies that Raville had gone home after
another argument two weeks earlier and sat with a gun on his lap waiting
for police to arrive, Harman said. But the police hadn't been called.

Four law enforcement officers arrived at Raville's home after the June 11
argument to investigate the girlfriend's allegations of a drug lab, Harman
said. Evans and Carpenter were joined by Sheriff's Det. Richard Barrios and
FBI Special Agent Tom Powers.

On a desk in the lab, prosecutors said, were two cans of a flammable
liquid. The cans were tied to a wire that was attached to the door, and
underneath the cans was a lighted torch. The rig failed when the officers
decided at the last second to enter the lab slowly rather than rush in,
Harman said.

One can tipped slightly but failed to fall on the flame. The officers
backed away after seeing the flame and called in bomb and hazardous
materials experts and evacuated the neighborhood.

If the trap had worked, Harman said, it would have shot a fireball at the
officers.

"The only reason they didn't die was pure luck," Harman said.

Raville's attorney could not be reached for comment. Raville said nothing
in court but admitted during trial that he had a drug problem, prosecutors
said.

According to records, Raville had been in trouble with the law several
times before this conviction. In fact, he was arrested in the fatal
shooting of a tow-truck driver in 1996. He confessed to the killing,
claiming self-defense, and was never charged.