Jess Kiesel Lee, a 43-year-old resident of Kula, Maui, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for possessing explosive powder as a convicted felon. The sentence was handed down last week by U.S. District Judge Jill A. Otake.
Court records indicate that Lee set off an improvised explosive device (IED), described as a homemade firework, near Kaamana Street in Kula on or before August 7, 2024. Officers from the Maui Police Department later found several IEDs at the scene. The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized these devices and identified Lee’s fingerprint on one of them. Analysis showed that at least one device contained compounds consistent with explosive firework powder.
A month after the incident, the FBI searched Lee’s residence and found small amounts of methamphetamine, firearms, ammunition, and additional IEDs containing flash powder—a substance commonly used in fireworks. Lee admitted to knowingly possessing the explosive powder despite having multiple felony convictions in Hawaii.
Judge Otake noted during sentencing that fireworks can endanger both those who use them and the public at large. She highlighted that using a homemade firework near wooded areas on Kaamana Street put the community at risk due to Maui's vulnerability to wildfires.
U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson stated: “The protection and safety of our community is our highest priority. We have witnessed the serious harm and life-threatening danger presented by the possession and use of illegal explosives in our local communities, including illegal fireworks. We pledge to aggressively investigate, charge, and convict those who unlawfully construct, possess, or detonate explosives and explosive materials. We credit our steadfast partners at the FBI for their outstanding investigative efforts in this case.”
FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter added: “Homemade explosive devices present a significant danger to our island communities. The FBI—in coordination with our law enforcement partners—is committed to using every tool available to hold criminals accountable when they threaten public safety.”
Federal law bars convicted felons from possessing any form of explosives transported through interstate or foreign commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 842(i)(1). Explosives covered under this statute include substances such as gunpowder, dynamite, blasting agents, fuzes (excluding electric circuit breakers), detonators, smokeless powders, flash powder, and bulk salutes.
The investigation involved cooperation between the Maui Police Department and FBI—with support from the FBI’s Laboratory Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan D. Slack and Wayne A. Myers.
