Virginia man pleads not guilty to stockpiling largest number of homemade bombs in FBI history
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A Virginia man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a federal case that accuses him of stockpiling the largest number of finished explosives in FBI history and using President Joe Biden’s photo for target practice. Chained at his legs and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Brad Spafford, 36, said little beyond answering mostly “yes” and “no” questions from a federal magistrate during his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.
The hearing focused mostly on setting a May 28 trial date, which is needed to give enough time to attorneys to review a vast trove of evidence. Rebecca Gantt, a federal prosecutor, told a judge that authorities are still analyzing evidence from the FBI's seizure of approximately 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices at Spafford's home in Isle of Wight County, which is northwest of Norfolk.
Most of the explosives were detonated on Spafford's property, requiring soil analyses, while some devices were taken to a lab for examination, Gantt said. She added that investigators were still going through Spafford's electronic devices, including a phone with 500,000 images on it, among other evidence.
Spafford faces one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle. Both are felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison. One of Spafford's attorneys, Kenneth Woodward, mentioned to the judge that the National Firearms Act, under which Spafford is charged, does not define what is an explosive.