NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
What is explosive device charges
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal cases that other attorneys won’t touch. We’ve represented clients in cases that made national headlines – Anna Delvey’s Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, the Alec Baldwin stalking case. If you’re facing explosive device charges, you’re looking at serious federal prison time, and you need someone who knows how ATF and federal prosecutors build these cases.
Explosive device charges under federal law – that’s 18 U.S.C. §§ 842 and 844 – cover everything from pipe bombs to grenades to homemade destructive devices. The ATF doesn’t mess around with these prosecutions. They treat every case like terrorism until proven otherwise, they stack charges, and they push for maximum sentences. The law is broad, the penalties are harsh, and one mistake can cost you decades.
What Federal Law Actually Prohibits
18 U.S.C. § 842 makes it a federal crime to manufacture, distribute, transport, receive, or possess explosive materials without proper licensing. That includes anyone “engaged in the business” of dealing with explosives – you don’t need to be a commercial operation. Selling a few pipe bombs to friends counts. Making explosives in your garage and giving them away counts. Federal prosecutors have interpreted “engaged in the business” so broadly that even a single transaction can trigger the statute if there’s evidence you planned to do it more than once.
The statute also prohibits certain categories of people from possessing any explosive materials at all – convicted felons, fugitives, illegal aliens, people with domestic violence convictions, dishonorably discharged veterans. According to 18 U.S.C. § 842(i), if you fall into one of these categories and you’re caught with explosives, you’re facing up to 10 years in federal prison regardless of what you planned to do with them. ATF reported over 500 cases in recent years involving prohibited persons caught with explosive materials.
18 U.S.C. § 844 is where the penalties get truly brutal. Using an explosive device during any felony adds 20 years to whatever sentence you’re already facing. Damaging federal property with explosives – that’s 5 to 20 years minimum, and if someone gets hurt or could have been hurt, it jumps to 7 to 40 years. We had a client who faced §844 charges for a Molotov cocktail that never ignited, prosecutors argued the “substantial risk of injury” enhancement applied anyway because he threw it near a building where people might have been inside.
What Counts as a Destructive Device
Under the National Firearms Act, destructive devices include bombs, grenades, rockets, missiles, mines – but also any explosive or incendiary device not specifically exempted. Pipe bombs are the most common charge we see. Steel pipe, explosive mixture, fuse – that’s a textbook destructive device, usually 10 years maximum if it’s just possession, more if there’s intent to use it.
Any destructive device must be registered with ATF’s National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. If you possess an unregistered destructive device – even if you legally could own it with proper registration – that’s a separate 10-year felony. Jeremy Barr learned this the hard way in 2025 when he left two pipe bombs in his car next to a school and got sentenced to 46 months after pleading guilty to possessing an unregistered destructive device.
Here’s the registration trap nobody talks about – you can’t register a device you made yourself unless you’re a licensed manufacturer. So if you build a pipe bomb in your garage and then try to register it, you’ve just admitted to illegally manufacturing an unregistered destructive device. ATF will arrest you based on your own registration application.
How Federal Prosecutors Build These Cases
ATF and FBI investigate explosive device cases with massive resources. They’ll execute search warrants on your home, your car, your workplace, your storage units. They’ll seize every chemical, every tool, every piece of metal piping, every electronic component. They’ll review your internet history for searches about bomb-making, your purchase history for precursor chemicals, your text messages for any discussion of explosives.
The government doesn’t need to prove you actually built a bomb – possessing the materials with intent is enough. We defended a client who had gunpowder, pipes, and end caps in separate locations of his house, none assembled, and prosecutors charged him with attempted manufacture. They used his Google searches about “how to make pipe bombs” as evidence of intent. The jury convicted him. Once ATF labels you a bomb-maker, you’re fighting an uphill battle.
Federal sentencing guidelines treat explosive device offenses seriously. Base offense levels start at 20 to 26 depending on the specific statute – that’s 33 to 65 months for someone with no criminal history. Add enhancements for number of devices, for possessing them near schools, for being a prohibited person – you’re easily looking at 10+ years.
Defenses That Actually Work
Knowledge is the key element in most explosive device prosecutions. The government must prove you knew you possessed the device and knew its explosive nature. If you can show you genuinely didn’t know the item was explosive or that you possessed it, you’ve got a defense. That worked for clients who inherited military memorabilia they believed was inert, or who bought “replica” grenades online that turned out to be live. The challenge is proving your lack of knowledge when the government has your internet searches, your conversations, your purchase records.
Technical defenses focus on whether the item actually qualifies as a destructive device under federal law. We’ve successfully argued that inert training devices, antique firearms that fire black powder projectiles, and certain large-bore firearms don’t meet the statutory definition. ATF maintains detailed lists of what they consider illegal explosives, but courts don’t always agree with their classifications. That’s where expert witnesses become critical – chemists and explosives engineers who can testify that your device doesn’t contain true explosives or doesn’t function as the government claims.
Fourth Amendment challenges to searches and seizures can suppress the evidence entirely. ATF needs probable cause to search your property for explosives, and they need a warrant unless exigent circumstances exist. We’ve had cases where ATF agents claimed they smelled chemicals or saw suspicious materials in plain view to justify warrantless entries – but when we deposed them, their stories fell apart. If the search was illegal, everything found gets suppressed, and the case collapses.
Why You Need a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney Immediately
The moment ATF or FBI contacts you about explosives, shut your mouth and call an attorney. Do not explain what you have or why you have it. Do not let agents “just take a quick look” at your garage or storage unit. Do not agree to answer “a few questions” to clear things up. Federal agents are trained to extract admissions, and they’re very good at it.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal weapons and explosives cases for many, many years. We know how ATF investigations work because some of our attorneys are former federal prosecutors who built these cases from the other side. We know the scientific experts who can challenge the government’s lab results. We know how to negotiate with federal prosecutors to reduce charges from §844 (with mandatory minimums) down to §842 violations.
We’re available 24/7 because explosives cases don’t wait for business hours. ATF executes search warrants at dawn, arrests happen immediately, bond hearings occur within 48 hours. Don’t wait until you’re indicted. Don’t talk to federal agents without counsel. Call Spodek Law Group now – we’ve handled cases others wouldn’t touch, we’ve won cases others said were unwinnable, and we’ll fight for you with everything we have.