Herrin Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Pipe Bomb Components
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 28, 2011 |
Robert Allen Sloat, 51, of Herrin, Illinois, pled guilty today, June 28, 2011, in United States District Court to possession of explosive materials by a previously convicted felon and to possession of an unregistered destructive device, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced.
On April 20, 2011, Sloat was indicted by a federal grand jury. Sloat was previously charged on March 31, 2011, by a criminal complaint. He is detained.
The facts underlying the charges were that on March 12, 2011, in Franklin County, authorities stopped a vehicle in which Sloat was a passenger. Sloat possessed the components to make a pipe bomb: one can of gunpowder, two lead pipes wrapped in duct tape with end caps screwed onto each end, shotgun shells, and a fuse. Sloat had been previously convicted of two felonies of manufacturing methamphetamine.
Today, Sloat pled guilty in the United States District Court in Benton to both counts of the indictment, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, or both; and three years’ supervised release. Sloat’s sentencing hearing is set for October 14, 2011.
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Zeigler Police Department, the Illinois State Police, and the Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Liam Coonan.