GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Muskegon man has been sentenced for owning a homemade bomb nearly four years ago.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office – Western District of Michigan says 40-year-old Casey Richard Newman pleaded guilty to the crime on Jan. 25.
We’re told police responded to reports of a suspicious device at a Grand Rapids home in August 2019. The device was later determined to be explosive in nature.
No one was hurt, and the bomb was contained thanks to the Grand Rapids Police Department Bomb Squad, federal attorneys say.
Federal documents indicate Newman had a contentious relationship with his employer and had been fired 13 days before the incident. The bomb was reportedly made to incite fear.
Newman was also on drugs when he built the explosive device, federal documents allege.
“The citizens of the Western District of Michigan should be able to move about their communities without fear of harm or danger by homemade destructive devices,” says U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Those who engage in these dangerous crimes will be held accountable.”
Newman was sentenced to spend 40 months – or a little more than three years – behind bars, according to the Department of Justice. He will spend an additional three years of supervised release after completing his initial sentence.
