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The key witness who assisted the Justice Department in last week鈥檚 successful prosecution of former attorney will spend 27 months in prison for building pipe bombs in a murder-for-hire plot.

Larry Fairfax, a 49-year-old handyman, contacted the FBI last year after he was approached by Edgar Steele and given $10,000 in silver coins to build pipe bombs to kill Steele鈥檚 wife, Cyndi, and her mother.

What Fairfax didn鈥檛 immediately tell the FBI was that he already had placed one of armed explosive devices on Cyndi Steele鈥檚 vehicle and it was there when she drove from North Idaho to Oregon.

The pipe bomb was discovered during an oil change on the vehicle shortly before Edgar Steele was arrested by the FBI and arraigned on federal charges related to the plot. A second pipe bomb 鈥� planted for a cover story 鈥� was successfully removed from a vehicle driven by Edgar Steele.

Fairfax pleaded guilty last October to federal charges of building and possessing an illegal explosive device. As part of a plea bargain, he agreed to testify as a prosecution witness against Steele in a jury trial moved to Boise.

鈥淢y acts were very reckless and just wrong,鈥� Fairfax told U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill at Wednesday鈥檚 sentencing in Coeur d鈥橝lene.

鈥淚 know what I did was wrong and careless,鈥� Fairfax said, adding that he 鈥渓earned not to make a fast buck by compromising the law.鈥�

The sentencing occurred six days after a U.S. District Court jury convicted Steele of four federal felonies based largely on Fairfax鈥檚 testimony and secret tape recordings he made during murder plot discussions with Steele. Steele is a lawyer and an anti-Semitic author and lecturer who unsuccessfully defended and his neo-Nazi Aryan Nations in a 2000 civil suit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center. That suit and ensuing jury verdict, based on an attack by Aryan guards on a woman and her son, resulted in a $6.3 million judgment that led the bankruptcy and dismantling of the Aryan Nations compound in North Idaho.

At Fairfax鈥檚 sentencing on Wednesday, Cyndi Steele was allowed to address the court as the 鈥渧ictim鈥� in the case 鈥� a label she refuses to use or believe. Since shortly after her husband鈥檚 arrest, she has defended the man accused of trying to have her and her mother murdered, saying the government was framing her husband merely because of his extremist views.

鈥淟arry the pipe bomber鈥� should go to prison for life, Steele said, though suggesting that was unlikely because the FBI and federal prosecutors are 鈥減romoting and protecting鈥� the informant and crafted a 鈥渟oft plea deal鈥� for him.

鈥淵ou wanted me dead and just didn鈥檛 care who else got injured, too,鈥� she said, pointing at Fairfax and calling him a 鈥渃oward, a liar, a thief and a would-be murderer鈥� who conspired with federal authorities to 鈥渇rame and convict my husband and ruin our family.鈥�

Cyndi Steele said Fairfax is 鈥渘ot a hero,鈥� as he reportedly claims in a book manuscript. 鈥淵ou are the vilest form of a villain 鈥� and you have influential people protecting you because it fits with their scheme, too.鈥�

After reading her prepared remarks, she pulled off her sweater, revealing her white 鈥淔ree Edgar Steele鈥� T-shirt as she stormed out of the federal courtroom, banging the door behind her. Her attorney, Wesley Hoyt, who attended the Boise trial, remained seated in the courtroom, looking somewhat bewildered.

Fairfax鈥檚 attorney, John Miller, urged the court to impose an 11-month sentence 鈥� the amount of time Fairfax already has served.

鈥淭his man鈥檚 action has probably saved up to 12 lives,鈥欌�� Miller told the court, claiming Fairfax built bombs that he believed wouldn鈥檛 explode while he secretly notified authorities of the murder plot.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan argued for a 30-month sentence, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a soft-plea deal鈥� as Cyndi Steele suggested.

For his part, the federal judge said he wasn鈥檛 sure if Fairfax should be viewed as a hero or an anti-hero.

鈥淲hat Mr. Fairfax鈥檚 motivation was has never been clear,鈥� the judge said. Winmill said one possibility was that Fairfax was involved in a grand theft by deception case and was positioning himself to blackmail Steele after the initial payment.

The judge could have imposed an even tougher enhanced sentence if he ruled that pipe bombs were made in furtherance of another crime, but said he backed away from that and gave Fairfax credit for 鈥渆xtra acceptance of responsibility.鈥�

鈥淗e was endeavoring to intercede in a plot by Edgar Steele to kill his wife,鈥� the judge said of Fairfax鈥檚 actions.

In addition to a total of 27 months in prison, Fairfax will be on supervised release for three years when he is released.聽 He also will have to pay a $9,690 fine and restitution totaling $2,836.