- Gregory Lee Rodvelt foreclosed on his home in Williams, Oregon after losing his property in a lawsuit. In September 2018, an FBI bomb technician was hospitalized
- One booby trap involved a hot tub rolling down a hill, like the infamous bouldering scene from the 1981 Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark film.
- The 72-year-old was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane to 12 and a half years in federal prison.
A 72-year-old Oregon man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after decorating his home with “elaborate and deadly” booby traps inspired by Indiana Jones.
Gregory Lee Rodvelt armed his home in the small town of Williams after losing his property in a lawsuit, and in September 2018 an FBI bomb technician was hospitalized.
One booby trap involved a hot tub that would roll down a hill, like the infamous rock scene from the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Rodvelt was found guilty of assaulting a federal officer and using and discharging a firearm during a violent crime on June 2.
He was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane to 12 and a half years in prison.
Gregory Lee Rodvelt, 72, of Oregon, has been jailed for 12 years after decorating his home with 'elaborate and deadly' booby traps inspired by Indiana Jones
One booby trap involved a hot tub that would roll down a hill, like the infamous rock scene from the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark.
“This individual went to great lengths to set elaborate and deadly hidden traps to prevent FBI agents from doing their work,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Kieran L. Ramsey said after the sentencing.
'These weren't jokes. Mr. Rodvelt knew he was breaking the law and his despicable actions earned him this sentence.”
Rodvelt set up the booby traps to prevent the government from taking his house. He set traps such as a wheelchair that fired a shotgun and a hot tub that rolled down a hill when triggered.
A real estate attorney in charge of selling the property had called police after finding a sign warning that the house was “protected by makeshift devices.”
When bomb technicians from the Oregon State Police and the FBI arrived at the property, they noticed steel animal traps attached to a gate post as well as under the hood of the minivan blocking the gate.
Homemade nail strips were also spotted that the lawyer had already driven over in the past.
After disarming the traps, the FBI agents and bomb squad moved toward the home.
“They observed a spa that had been placed on its side and rigged so that when a gate was opened, a mechanical trigger would activate, causing the spa to roll toward the person who opened the gate,” the U.S. Department of State said Justice. for Oregon.
Police likened the scene to one from an Indiana Jones movie in which Harrison Ford is forced to outrun a giant stone boulder that he accidentally activated by a booby trap switch.
After getting past the hot tub, a bomb squad and FBI agents approached the property's manufactured home and blew open the fortified front door.
Rodvelt armed his home in the small town of Williams after losing his property in a lawsuit and hospitalizing an FBI bomb technician in September 2018
Then they came across a tricked-out wheelchair of Rodvelt placed in the front entrance of the house, designed to activate a homemade shotgun.
As the agents entered the home, the wheelchair fired a .410 shotgun round that struck the unidentified FBI bomb technician below the knee.
The officer shouted, “I've been hit!” when the blood started flowing from his leg. He was taken to hospital and treated for his leg injury.
But Rodvelt had left even more booby traps behind. In the garage, officers found a rat trap modified to accept a shotgun shell.
The trap was unloaded, but was connected to the main garage door so that it would activate when the door was opened.
The technicians also discovered that the windows had been secured from the inside and that there were security doors at both the front and back of the property.
There appeared to be bullet holes in the front door, caused by shots fired inside.
Investigators said Rodvelt admitted during an interview to setting the booby traps.
During the interview, Rodvelt stated that he laid a fishing line and trip wire across the gate of the property leading to a circular hot tub that was on its side, ready to roll down the hill and hit anyone who came through the gate ', officers wrote in the criminal complaint.
“Rodvelt described it by referring to 'the stone rolling down in the Indiana Jones movie.'
Rodvelt had lost his home in an elder abuse case involving his mother.
At the time of the incident, Rodvelt had been in an Arizona jail since April 2017 on charges of unlawful possession of explosives, but the court had released him for two weeks so he could prepare for the transfer of the property.