Man charged with ramming FBI office gate enters plea

PITTSBURGH – An Ohio man accused of ramming a dump truck through the security gate of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office has been released after pleading guilty to reduced charges.

Forty-nine-year-old Thomas Ross was originally charged with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty on Monday in Allegheny County Court to fleeing and eluding and simple assault and was sentenced to five to 10 months but credited with time served.

Ross still faces federal charges for destruction of government property. Officials said he did about $350,000 worth of damage to a gate, a barrier plate and a light pole in July 2016.

His federal public defender said in December that he was “out of his mind” on a combination of drugs and was “clearly desperate.”