Hyattsville Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Related To A Firebombing

July 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                  at (410) 209-4885

Greenbelt, Maryland – On July 6, 2017, Richard Butler III, age 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pled guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of explosives and malicious use of explosive materials.

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Marc S. Bashoor.

According to the plea agreement, on or about March 4, 2016, at approximately 3:25 a.m., the Prince George’s County Fire Department (PGFD) responded to the Overland Garden Apartments in Landover, Maryland for an automated general fire alarm. PGFD personnel arrived on scene and subsequently located the remnants of a fire in the master bedroom.

Fire investigators arrived on scene and conducted an investigation inside and around the apartment. Investigators located a concrete brick inside the master bedroom on the floor between the bed and window. Investigators located, in close proximity to the brick, an improvised incendiary device,—specifically, a clear plastic water bottle, which contained an unknown liquid, and a brown paper towel material protruding from the mouth of the bottle. Investigators also located a similar plastic bottle melted to the top of the burned bed. On the exterior of the apartment, in close proximity to the broken master bedroom window, investigators located a blue plastic one-quart motor oil container. The three bottles were submitted to the ATF Forensic Science Laboratory for examination and were found to contain the presence of gasoline.

At the time of the incident, two adults and three minors were inside the apartment.

Surveillance video recordings revealed that at approximately 2:27 a.m. on March 4, 2016, an individual matching the description of Butler walking into a local gas station where he purchased the gasoline and filled three plastic containers.

According to his plea agreement, Butler had previously sustained a conviction for an offense punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, which made him ineligible to possess destructive devices.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the ATF and Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Sykes and Thomas Sullivan who prosecuted the case.