Mason man pleads guilty to transporting explosive materials to local park

CINCINNATI – James River Phillips, 21, of Mason, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to illegally transporting explosive materials. 

Phillips was arrested in April 2025 by the FBI Cincinnati Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) after agents executed search warrants in Mason, Oxford and Liberty Township.

According to court documents, on Sept. 22, 2024, Phillips transported components of an improvised explosive device (IED) to a large soccer complex in Lebanon, Ohio. Phillips planned to detonate the IED but was stopped when a Lebanon police officer instructed him to leave the complex because it was closed. The officer discovered the live IED and it was seized by the Butler County Bomb Squad. Subsequent testing revealed that the IED contained Nickel Hydrazine Nitrate (NHN) and Erythritol Tetranitrate (ETN).

Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court at a future hearing.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati and officials with the Lebanon Police Department, Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Butler County Sheriff’s Office, Mason Police Department, Oxford Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Dayton Police Department and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) announced the guilty plea entered today before U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole. Deputy Criminal Chief Emily N. Glatfelter is representing the United States in this case.

# # #