Jurors indict bomber’s son in cycle theft
The son of convicted Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols was being sought in Las Vegas on an arrest warrant after he was indicted on charges that he stole a motorcycle, authorities said Tuesday.
Joshua Isaac Nichols, 26, was sought on two felony charges, grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle, after a warrant was issued Monday by a Clark County District Court judge. Bail was set at $50,000.
His lawyer, Gary Guymon, would not say where Nichols was, but promised his client would appear for a scheduled arraignment Jan. 6.
"Josh Nichols will be in court to face these charges," Guymon said. "We’ll be pleading not guilty and will go from there."
Nichols appeared Nov. 14 in Las Vegas Justice Court following his arrest Nov. 11 on the same charges stemming from allegations that he stole a 2008 Yamaha R6 motorcycle from an acquaintance.
He was freed on $6,000 bail, and his preliminary hearing was postponed before the district attorney’s office took the case to a grand jury, which returned the indictment Friday.
Nichols’ mother, Lana Padilla, declined to comment. She has acknowledged that her son has a drug problem.
Padilla has referred to what she called "sins of the father" affecting her son.
Joshua Nichols served 18 months in a Nevada prison after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, stolen vehicle and other charges in a 2005 scuffle with Las Vegas police officers.
He also was sentenced to probation and a drug court diversion program in 2003 after pleading guilty to stealing a motor scooter to finance a drug habit.
Court documents show Nichols also was arrested Aug. 8 on charges including drug possession, transport of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, speeding and failure to produce a license.
Guymon said charges have not been filed in that case.
A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper reported finding several plastic bags containing a substance believed to be methamphetamine in Nichols’ sock and in a red Chevrolet Corvette that Nichols was driving.
Nichols has lived for more than a decade in Las Vegas with his mother. She divorced Terry Nichols years before the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
Terry Nichols, 53, is serving a sentence of life in federal prison without parole for his role in the bombing. Convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001.
