LAS VEGAS - One day after he was ordered released from a mental hospital, James Carbullido was back in front of a federal judge facing new charges related to a string of failed bombing attempts on Mormon churches.
Carbullido, 45, was charged with arson Tuesday in U.S. District Court, the second time he has been charged in connection with a string of homemade bombs planted at Mormon churches in the Las Vegas Valley.
A federal judge ordered Carbullido released on his own recognizance Tuesday after rejecting arguments from prosecutors he should be considered dangerous.
The case began in 1998 when the first of nine crude bombs made from milk jugs and gasoline was found at a Mormon church. Two of the bombs caused minor damage, but the rest failed to ignite and no one was injured.
Carbullido was arrested last summer and charged with attempted arson. In March he entered a plea of innocent by reason of insanity.
The insanity plea was based on experts for both the defense and prosecutors who said Carbullido suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He was sentenced to a mental health hospital in New York for treatment.
On Monday U.S. District Judge David Hagen ordered Carbullido released from the hospital after a doctor said he no longer suffered from a mental illness. The doctor said the condition was most likely caused by the use of methamphetamine, and without the drug Carbullido is healthy.
Hours later, prosecutors filed a new charge against Carbullido accusing him of arson. Carbullido made an initial appearance Tuesday.