NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CENTERTOWN MAN SENTENCED

FOR POSSESSING EXPLOSIVES

            JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Centertown, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for possessing explosive devices.

            Jeffrey Allen Bedwell, 29, of Centertown, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2009, to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

            On June 12, 2009, Bedwell pleaded guilty to possessing 18 destructive devices, commonly known as CO2 crickets. Law enforcement officers discovered the devices at Bedwell’s residence on Jan. 16, 2009. The devices consisted of silver CO2 cartridges with a green fuse secured by black electrical tape and white Teflon tape, with gunpowder inside the devices. Four of the 18 cartridges had silver BBs secured to the outside with clear tape.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Cole County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group) and the Missouri State Highway Patrol bomb squad.

****************

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

http://www.justice.gov../index.html