GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WLNS) — A Muskegon man has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for possessing a homemade bomb.
U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff sentenced Casey Richard Newman, 40, to 40 months in federal prison for knowingly possessing a destructive devise, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten announced on Friday.
He is also ordered to spend three years on supervised release after his prison sentence.
Newman had previously pleaded guilty to the offense on Jan. 25, 2023.
Destructive devices, commonly known as homemade bombs, are illegal to possess unless they are registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The Citizens of the Western District of Michigan should be able to move about their communities without fear of harm or danger by homemade destructive devices,” said Totten in a press release on Friday.
In August 2019, police officers were dispatched to a Grand Rapids residence on a call about a suspicious device, which was later determined to be a destructive device.
The device was a tape-wrapped plastic bottle that was filled with explosive powder and BBs, wrapped in electrical tape with a fuse at each end.
The device was never detonated.
The Grand Rapids Police Department Bomb Squad secured the device and conducted testing, and then the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Forensic Science Laboratory conducted additional testing.
“Casey Newman’s reckless actions could have resulted in an explosion that killed and injured many people,” said ATF Detroit Special Agent in Charge James Deir.
