Ohio – -(AmmoLand.com)- Four Trumbull County men convicted in an ATF investigation have been sentenced in federal court.
Donald Paul Phillips, age 28 of Mineral Ridge, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for two counts relating to the illegal manufacture and distribution of explosives, and one count of possessing firearms after a domestic violence conviction.
Andrew Syacsure, age 31 of Niles, was sentenced to 4 months of home detention and 3 years of probation for one count of conspiring to manufacture and distribute explosives.
Zachary Booth, age 30 of Warren, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised probation for one count of distributing explosives without an ATF license.
And Donald Roger Phillips, age 50 of Mineral Ridge, was sentenced to 5 months of home detention, 3 years of probation, and a $1,000 fine for one count of possessing a firearm after a domestic violence conviction. All four defendants pled guilty.
According to court records:
In early 2019, ATF agents learned that Zachary Booth was offering to sell homemade explosive devices. ATF agents began an undercover operation and purchased 11 homemade explosive devices from Booth. The devices appeared similar to large M-80 fireworks, but contained hundreds of times more flash powder than consumer ground fireworks.
After further investigation, the ATF learned that Booth had obtained the explosive devices from Donald Paul Phillips. ATF agents then used an undercover agent to make multiple purchases of the devices from Donald Paul Phillips outside his workplace in Niles.
On May 2, 2019, ATF agents arrested Donald Paul Phillips at his workplace in Niles and found a handgun in his toolbox. Phillips was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition due to two prior convictions for domestic violence.
Law enforcement also executed a search warrant at Donald Paul Phillips’ residence in Mineral Ridge, where he lived with his father (Donald Roger Phillips) and step-mother. During the search warrant, law enforcement found another handgun under Donald Paul Phillips’ bed, and over a dozen firearms in a gun storage room immediately adjacent to his bedroom. The firearms discovered in the gun storage room included multiple high-capacity magazines and a device that was later determined to be a silencer. Law enforcement also found more than 500 homemade explosive devices in the breezeway of the home, and a loaded shotgun in Donald Roger Phillips’s bedroom closet. Donald Roger Phillips was also prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition due to a prior domestic violence conviction.
ATF agents then conducted a search of Syacsure’s home in Niles, and found evidence of explosives manufacturing in Syacusre’s basement, which included workbenches, tubs of ingredients used to make flash powder, and empty cardboard fuses and tubes.
In total, the ATF seized over 900 homemade explosive devices and over a dozen illegally possessed firearms during the investigation.
The case was investigated by the ATF, with assistance from the Niles Police Department, the Weathersfield Police Department, and members of the Youngstown Bomb Squad. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lewis.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
ATF is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating violations of the federal firearms and explosives laws and regulations. More information about ATF and its programs can be found at www.atf.gov.
“The RIGHT of the people to keep and bear arms shall NOT BE INFRINGED.” That is easy enough for a grade school kid to understand. A few years ago my neighbor’s kid took a M-80 to school. He loaned it to his friend who set it off. He was charged and convicted as a terrorist. That is just not right, that is government run amuck. That is a school, officer, lawyer and judge aggrandizing themselves at the expense of a kid. That is tyranny under the color of law. The 2A refers to American citizens as militia. This infers the… Read more »
I feel so much safer now. Especially since the agency behind the Waco incident and the Ruby Ridge incident has come to my rescue.
More BATF B.S.! None of these cases should have resulted in any involvement of the BATF or law enforcement. This isn’t prosecution of any real crimes, it’s prosecution of potential crimes based upon BATF rules that they made up and were “legitimized” by application of Administrative law, which is unconstitutional. The last time I looked, until you actually committed a crime resulting in injury or death, thinking about, talking about or possessing anything that could be construed as having “potential” isn’t a criminal act. Screw the BATF and shame on Ammoland for acting as the BATF’s Shill for posting their… Read more »
All I got out of this article was….. these cowards liked beating up their wifes / girlfriends…. and were jailed for having had / made some powerful fireworks.
So some people did something, right? America is so much safer now without a few fireworks…… What complete bullshit.
The important part of this article is what it reveals about BATFE methods. Why did these people sell anything to someone that was not personally known to them? Why did they sell more than once? Why did they keep the evidence in their houses, bedrooms, and closets?
Ammoland, stop posting press releases from state-sponsored terrorists.
Just some random thoughts about this story. Being 64 I fondly remember buying hundreds of “real deal” M-80s, Silver Salutes, and Cherry Bombs every fourth of July until 1972 when the State of Alaska made it illegal. One of the reasons given for that decision was a boy in Fairbanks blew himself in half when all the explosives he had stuffed in his front pants pockets went up at once due to his inability to maintain proper fire control. My parents bought a house in ’67 that had a bus sitting next to it. It was an old bus that… Read more »
Look at the evidence and look at the sentences…something doesn’t line up. Pleading down serious gun and explosives charges to avoid a court case…ATF, Prosecutors, DAs are all to blame for the revolving door of bad guys and bad gun/explosives behavior!