Man sentenced to more than 3 years for 2019 explosion near Indianapolis Motor Speedway

INDIANAPOLIS — A man has been ordered to serve three years and nine months in federal prison after he was convicted in a case stemming from a 2019 explosion near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon handed the sentence down to Wayne Turner, 58, after he pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of an unregistered destructive device, ccording to the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana.

Wayne Turner's son and co-defendant, Isak Turner, also previously pleaded guilty to that same charge. Isak Turner was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison in February.

Prosecutors alleged the Turners were responsible for an explosion in December 2019 near a railroad bridge in the 3600 block of West 16th Street in Speedway, which is east of the racetrack.

It was Wayne Turner who assembled the improvised explosive using materials he kept inside his Indianapolis apartment, but Isak Turner who ignited it, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors also said the pair brought Isak Turner's girlfriend to the tracks with them and tried to get her to ignite the device, but she refused. She was never charged, prosecutors said.

Isak Turner then lit the device and threw it off the bridge, causing it to land and explode in the median of 16th Street. The blast created a crater and damaged the bridge, a light fixture and a vehicle passing under the bridge at the time. The vehicle's driver was unharmed, prosecutors said.

Damages were estimated at $5,000 to the vehicle and $1,000 to the bridge, according to court documents.

Judge Hanlon ordered that Wayne and Isak Turner each be on probation for three years after they're released from prison.

The case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney William McCoskey.

The Turners were previously convicted for setting off a device the night before the 2016 Indianapolis 500 and were allegedly responsible for an October 2018 explosion in Irvington.

Prosecutors said Wayne Turner threw an M-80 style device over a fence into IMS property, and then another next to a barrier on Georgetown Road. He was intoxicated and had at least eight cylindrical explosive devices in his possession when he was arrested.