United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that on November 6, 2015, Jeffrey Belmont, 50, of Ralston, Nebraska was sentenced for his conviction for manufacturing explosives without a license. Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon sentenced Belmont to six months of imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release.
A search of Belmont’s home was conducted on June 24, 2014. Immediately prior to the execution of the search warrant, the defendant told investigators that he had made some fireworks the previous day in a shed behind his house. A search of the shed yielded numerous items associated with the clandestine manufacturing of what are commonly referred to as M-80 style IEDs. Thirty-six fully completed IEDs were located along with an additional twenty-eight partially completed IEDs which just needed fuses. Large quantities of potassium perchlorate and aluminum powder, chemicals used to make flash powder, were also recovered along with spools of fuse and large quantities of cardboard tubes and endcaps used in making the M-80 style IEDs.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
