A man from Hannibal, Missouri who made multiple illegal pipe bombs in 2022 was sentenced Tuesday to six years in federal prison.
Joshua Eugene Rickey, 34, admitted to making a series of pipe bombs using plastic and metal pipes and materials from fireworks between July 4, 2022, and Aug. 13, 2022. Rickey admitted to detonating two.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj said there was a progression in both the size of the bombs Rickey made and the ongoing danger those bombs presented to the community. One of the seized bombs required detonation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) because it could not be safely handled.
“This case illustrates ATF’s commitment in preventing attacks instead of responding to their aftermath,” said Special Agent in Charge Bernard Hansen for the ATF’s Kansas City Field Division. “The conviction and now federal sentencing of this individual demonstrates our steadfast efforts to hold accountable individuals who threaten the safety of our communities.”
Rickey pleaded guilty in July in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of manufacture of one or more unregistered destructive devices and one count of possession of one or more unregistered destructive devices.
The ATF and the Hannibal Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj prosecuted the case.
