WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, a judge in federal district court sentenced former Rockingham resident A D MCRAE IV, to a 60-month prison term for throwing a Molotov cocktail into an occupied residence, announced United States Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin of the Middle District of North Carolina.
MCRAE, age 30, pleaded guilty on December 4, 2019, to one count of malicious use of explosive materials.
According to documents filed with the Court, two people were inside a Laurinburg residence on March 1, 2017, when an ignited Molotov cocktail came through a bedroom window. The glass bottle landed on a pile of clothing, failing to break and explode, and one of the occupants was able to extinguish the wick of the device. MCRAE had been seen in the area 30-45 minutes prior to the incident. Police responded to the scene that evening, and returned a week later with agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), finding a second Molotov cocktail under the residence. An examination of that second device yielded a fingerprint left by MCRAE. Under federal law, Molotov cocktails are classified as improvised incendiary bombs, which are destructive devices prohibited under federal law.
The Honorable Judge Stephanie D. Thacker, a judge from the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting by designation, imposed a 5-year prison term, to be followed by a 3-year period of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Laurinburg Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anand Ramaswamy.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
