FBI found 150 homemade bombs at Virginia home during search in December, prosecutors say

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Federal agents found one of the largest stockpiles of homemade explosives they have ever seized when they arrested a Virginia man on a firearms charge last month, according to a court filing by federal prosecutors.

Investigators seized more than 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices when they searched the home of Brad Spafford northwest of Norfolk in December, the prosecutors said in a motion filed Monday. The prosecutors wrote that this is believed to be “the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history."

Most of the bombs were found in a detached garage at the home in Isle of Wight County, along with tools and bomb-making materials including fuses and pieces of plastic pipe, according to court documents. The prosecutors also wrote: “Several additional apparent pipe bombs were found in a backpack in the home’s bedroom, completely unsecured," in the home he shares with his wife and two young children.

Spafford, 36, was charged with possession of a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act. Law enforcement officers allege he owned an unregistered short barrel rifle. Prosecutors said that he faces “numerous additional potential charges” related to the explosives.

Defense attorneys argued in a motion Tuesday that authorities haven't produced evidence that he was planning violence, also noting that he has no criminal record. Further, they question whether the explosive devices were usable because “professionally trained explosive technicians had to rig the devices to explode them.”

"There is not a shred of evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone and the contention that someone might be in danger because of their political views and comments is nonsensical," the defense lawyers wrote.

Messages were left Wednesday seeking further comment from the defense lawyers who signed the motion, Lawrence Woodward and Jerry Swartz.

The investigation began in 2023 when an informant told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling weapons and ammunition, according to court documents. The informant, a friend, told authorities Spafford had disfigured his hand in 2021 while working on homemade explosives. Prosecutors said he only has two fingers on his right hand. The informant told authorities that Spafford was using pictures of the president, an apparent reference to President Joe Biden, for target practice and that “he believed political assassinations should be brought back,” prosecutors wrote.

Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched the property on Dec. 17. The agents located the rifle and the explosive devices, some of which had been hand-labeled as “lethal” and some of which were loaded into a wearable vest, court documents state. Technicians detonated most of the devices on site because they were deemed unsafe to transport, though several were kept for analysis.

At a hearing Tuesday, federal Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard determined that Spafford could be released into house arrest at his mother's home but agreed to keep him detained while the government files further arguments.

In response, prosecutors reiterated why they believe Spafford is dangerous, writing that “while he is not known to have engaged in any apparent violence, he has certainly expressed interest in the same, through his manufacture of pipe bombs marked ‘lethal,’ his possession of riot gear and a vest loaded with pipe bombs, his support for political assassinations and use of the pictures of the President for target practice.”

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a rifle seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

This image provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia shows a stockpile of homemade explosives Federal agents seized when they arrested Brad Spafford, a Virginia man on a firearms charge in Dec. 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia via AP)

FILE - The seal of theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty marking the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain on Saturday.

They included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule since the military seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. That takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.

State-run MRTV television reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted amnesties covering 5,864 prisoners from Myanmar, as well as 180 foreigners who will be deported. Mass prisoner releases are common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar.

The terms of release warn that if the freed detainees violate the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence.

In a separate report, it said Min Aung Hlaing had commuted the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years' imprisonment. The report provided no details about them.

The report also said that all other prisoners will have their sentences reduced by one sixth, except those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counterterrorism Law, all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the military government, said in an audio note to journalists that those being released included about 600 prisoners who were prosecuted under Section 505(A) of Myanmar’s penal code, which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear or spread false news.

He said Khet Aung, a former chief minister of the southern Kachin state, was among those freed. Khet Aung was arrested soon after the army takeover and was sentenced in April 2022 to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.

Zaw Min Tun also said most of the freed foreigners are Thais who were arrested for gambling in the border town of Tachileik in eastern Myanmar. He said Indonesians who were arrested for fishing in Myanmar’s territorial waters were also among those freed.

He did not mention whether four Thai fishermen, who were arrested by Myanmar’s navy in late November after patrol boats opened fire on Thai fishing vessels in waters close to their maritime border in the Andaman Sea, were among the released. Thailand’s prime minister had said she expects the four to be released on Independence Day.

Prisoner releases began on Saturday but can take a few days to be completed. In the country’s largest city, Yangon, buses took prisoners out of Insein Prison, where friends and families of detainees had waited since morning for the announced releases, at around 11:30 a.m.

There was no sign that the prisoner release would include Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado by the military since its seizure of power.

The 79-year-old Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted in a series of politically tinged prosecutions brought by the military.

Her supporters and independent analysts say the cases against her are an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from taking part in the military’s promised election, for which no date has yet been set.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights monitoring organization, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover.

Of those arrested, 21,499 were still in detention as of Friday, the AAPP reported. At least 6,106 civilians have been killed by security forces in the same period, the group says. Its tally does not include all casualties from combat.

Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on Jan. 4, 1948.

In the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s military government celebrated the anniversary with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall.

Released prisoners are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4 , 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain.(AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Family members wait to welcome released prisoners from Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, front center and right, are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar, as the military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and has reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)