Hartland Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Explosives Charge

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID BOURNE, 37, of Hartland, pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to an explosives offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 6, 2018, Connecticut State Police responded to Rory Mocarsky’s residence in Hartland after reports of gunfire and explosions at the property, and after viewing a YouTube video showing Mocarsky and Bourne engaged in activities involving firearms and explosives.  A search of the property revealed an 8mm rifle, three .22 caliber rifles, a suspected homemade silencer, ammunition, a suspected improvised explosive device (“IED”), suspected post-blast IED devices and fragments, suspected explosive materials, and other electronic devices.  A related search of a location in the Tunxis State Forest in East Hartland, where Mocarsky and Bourne had recorded explosions, revealed metal fragments, a section of PVC pipe, and PVC pipe fragments from a suspected IED.

On January 2, 2019, Bourne threw a pipe bomb, which he constructed, into the back of a victim’s truck, where it exploded.

Bourne was arrested on May 9, 2019.

Bourne pleaded guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea on December 17, 2019.

Bourne is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.

On July 2, 2019, Mocarsky pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearms by a convicted felon.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, 2019.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and Connecticut State Police.  The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.