Press Releases
PREVIOUSLY CONVICTED JEFFERSON MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY POSSESSING A PIPE BOMB
June 3, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ROY L. SCHMIDT III, age 33, a resident of Kenner, Louisiana, pled guilty in federal court to federal felonies involving the possession of an illegal pipe bomb, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten today.
SCHMIDT pled guilty before U. S. District Judge Eldon F. Fallon to conspiring to illegally possess an unregistered pipe bomb, and illegally possessing a pipe bomb, after having been convicted of a felony offense. The conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five (5) years imprisonment. The felon in possession of the pipe bomb count carries a maximum statutory penalty of ten (10) years imprisonment. SCHMIDT also faces a fine of $500,000 and three (3) years of supervised release.
Around midnight/the early morning of January 1, 2008, a pipe bomb explosion took place damaging the hood/windshield of an automobile located in Metairie, Louisiana. A joint Sheriff’s office and Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives “ATFE” investigation determined that SCHMIDT and two others built three pipe bombs on December 31, 2007. SCHMIDT took possession of one of the pipe bombs and its components matched the fragments found at the explosion scene. The investigation revealed that SCHMIDT was on active probation with the Federal Probation Office based on a 1998 conviction for stealing firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer.
Based on the investigation, SCHMIDT was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 2, 2008. He was ordered detained without bond at a federal detention hearing held on October 7, 2008. SCHMIDT’S sentencing is set for September 9, 2009. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tony Gordon Sanders.
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