TOPEKA, KAN. -- A Topeka man has pleaded guilty to possessing a pipe bomb, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Kyle C. Roe, 29, Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and possessing a pipe bomb. In his plea, he admitted that on Nov. 13, 2012, officers of the Topeka Police Department stopped a car in which he was a passenger. Roe was arrested on an active felony warrant. He told officers that he had a bomb in his pocket. An examination showed the device to consist of metal tubing, PVC pipe, a cardboard tube, pyrotechnic fuse, paper and lead end plugs and smokeless powder. Explosion of the device would propel fragments of the tubes and end plugs in all directions at velocities that could cause serious injury or death to anyone near the explosion.
Co-defendant Joseph E. Rogers, who was the driver of the car, is set for trial Nov. 13. He is charged with making the bomb.
Roe is set for sentencing Nov. 26. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Grissom commended the Topeka Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway for their work on the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
