Former airman in Oklahoma pipe bombing released from prison

By

The Associated Press

This July 11, 2017, file photo provided by the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office shows Benjamin Don Roden, an ex-Air Force airman who faces several federal explosives charges after being accused of setting off a pipe bomb at an Air Force recruiting center in suburban Tulsa, Okla., on Monday, July 10. (Tulsa County Sheriffs Office via AP)

TULSA, Okla. — A former Air Force airman found not guilty by reason of insanity in the bombing of an Air Force recruiting office in Oklahoma is being released from prison.

Federal court records in Tulsa show that 30-year-old Benjamin Roden was granted his conditional release Friday from a federal prison hospital where he received mental health treatment and that prosecutors agreed.

The Tulsa World reports that under the conditions of his release, Roden must continue to receive mental health treatment and take medication. Chief U.S. District Judge John Dowdell said he was persuaded by the hospital warden and a doctor that Roden will no longer be a risk if he follows the prescribed conditions.

Roden was charged in the July 2017 bombing of an unoccupied recruiting office in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in October.