( CNN ) -- A 37-year-old white supremacist , Kevin William Harpham , was sentenced Tuesday to 32 years in prison for placing a bomb-laden backpack along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane , Washington , in January , the U.S. Justice Department said . Harpham , an unemployed electrician from Colville , Washington , pleaded guilty in September to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to commit a federal hate crime . Shrapnel in the `` improvised explosive device '' contained anticoagulant to prevent blood clotting , authorities said . After he is released from prison , Harpham will serve the rest of his life under court supervision , federal prosecutors said . `` Harpham admitted that he is a white supremacist and white separatist , and that he placed the explosive device at the march with the intent to cause bodily injury to the person or persons in order to further his racist beliefs , '' a Justice Department statement said . Federal prosecutors had recommended that Harpham be sentenced to 32 years in prison , according to court documents . He was sentenced in federal court in Spokane . The January 17 march was attended by about 2,000 people , including racial minorities , authorities said . `` Today , Mr. Harpham faces the consequences of his hate-filled act . A prototypical 'lone wolf ' such as Mr. Harpham presents a particularly vexing threat -- with nothing foreshadowing a carefully planned attack , '' Laura M. Laughlin , special agent in charge of the FBI Seattle office , said in a statement . Said Thomas Perez , assistant attorney general for the civil rights division , in a statement : `` Acts of hate like this one have no place in our country in the year 2011 , but yet , unfortunately , we continue to see attempted violence in our communities due to racial animus . '' The backpack containing the device was discovered , and no one was injured . But law enforcement officials said that if Harpham had succeeded , many people could have been harmed . He had packed a 6-inch steel pipe with 100 grams of black powder and more than 100 fishing weights , which were intended to be shrapnel . In addition , Harpham coated the weights with an anticoagulant . According to court documents , he intended to set off his bomb using a transmitter and receiver from a remote car starter device . The plea agreement says Harpham 's DNA was matched to the backpack ; investigators tracked his purchase of the fishing weights to a local Walmart store and the purchase of the remote triggering mechanism to an Internet transaction ; and they retrieved a camera from his home that contained pictures Harpham had taken of himself at the march .
NEW : Kevin William Harpham is prototypical `` lone wolf , '' FBI says . NEW : The 32-year sentence is what prosecutors sought . Harpham is a white supremacist who says he meant harm , a document says . A backpack with a bomb , shrapnel and anticoagulant was traced to Harpham .