Prosecutors want bomb suspect to be medicated

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors are seeking forced medication for a mentally ill man who is charged with leaving an explosive outside a Detroit federal building in 2011. A year after his arrest, Gary Mikulich remains in custody and has been declared incompetent to assist his lawyer and understand the case. The government last week asked a judge to order involuntary treatment to improve the Upper Peninsula man's mental health. "This case would appear to be (serious) enough to justify involuntary medication," Assistant U.S. Attorney Maarten Vermaat said in a court filing. "The defendant here took steps that showed he wished to harm people and property. He also faces a minimum of 37 years in prison if convicted and could receive a sentence of life in prison." U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Greeley hasn't made a decision. Mikulich's attorney declined to comment. Pat Mikulich said court-ordered medication has helped her son in the past. There is no dispute that he has a history of mental illness. "That's the only thing to give him a semi-normal life," Pat Mikulich said last Friday, referring to involuntary medication. Mikulich, 43, is charged with leaving a tool bag containing explosive components outside the McNamara Federal Building in Detroit in February 2011. It was an embarrassing incident for the government: A guard brought the bag inside the building where it sat for nearly three weeks until it was scanned and subsequently destroyed by a bomb squad. In a recent letter to the judge, Mikulich said he opposes forced medication. He said he was "under attack by a satellite system." Published: Tue, Mar 27, 2012