Former Grandfather Mountain Highland Games employee sentenced in US court

ASHEVILLE — A former employee of Grandfather Mountain Highland Games was convicted May 30 in Asheville federal court of creating a destructive device intended to detonate in the gaming office, as announced by U.S. Attorney Dena J. King of the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Thomas Dewey Taylor Jr., 45, of Newland, to 97 months, or about eight years in prison, and three years of supervised release. Taylor previously pleaded guilty to making a destructive device, possessing a weapon not registered under the National Firearms Act and attempting to damage and destroy a building used in interstate commerce by fire and explosives.

The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans, one of the largest gatherings of its kind in the United States, is held each July in Linville, featuring four days of music, food, dancing and competitions sports of the Scottish Highlands.