HUNTSVILLE – Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn today sentenced two Cullman men to 40 months in prison on explosives charges related to pipe bombs detonated in Cullman in early December, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Glenn N. Anderson.

Judge Blackburn sentenced JOSHUA KIRK KUGLER and BILLY SCOTT SIMMONS, both 22, for possessing unregistered destructive devices, transporting and receiving explosives, and making a destructive device. Kugler and Simmons pleaded guilty to those charges in February. The judge ordered them to serve two years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.

“There can be no tolerance for someone detonating a powerful explosive in a public place,” Vance said. “These men not only destroyed property, they risked horrible injury to anyone who might have encountered their pipe bombs. Their jail term is deserved and should discourage anyone from committing such a dangerous crime, ” she said.

In their plea agreements, the men acknowledged they created three pipe bombs and detonated them at the C & F Car Wash and near R.E. Garrison Trucking Company on the night of Dec. 9. The explosion near the trucking company damaged device panels and metal housing boxes which are owned by AT&T. The defendants were ordered to pay $1,168 in restitution to AT&T for that damage.

Judge Blackburn noted the serious nature of Kugler’s and Simmons’ offenses and found that the 40-month prison terms were reasonable, despite the defendants’ ages and the absence of any criminal record for either man.

The case was investigated by the ATF and the Cullman Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell E. Penfield is prosecuting the case.

 

 

 

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