SALT LAKE CITY -- A Farmington man pleaded guilty to a federal charge related to owning a pipe bomb.
Brandon Ross Easter, 34, appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered destructive device.
A hearing is set for Jan. 21, when Easter could be sentenced to serve up to 10 years in a federal prison, fined up to $250,000 and placed on supervised release for up to three years.
Easter was arrested at his home Aug. 4 by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force after it received a tip about an explosive device inside the house.
He has been booked in Davis County Jail on a hold from federal marshals.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said if the case had gone to trial, prosecutors would have had to prove Easter had possessed a firearm, which was a destructive device and that was not registered to Easter in the National Firearms and Transfer Record.
According to court documents, the bomb "was made of galvanized steel pipe and end caps, with a fuse extending from a hole that had been drilled through the pipe."
Easter told officers at the time of his arrest the pipe contained "gunpowder and other items and that his design was intended to produce an explosion," according to the document.
The bomb was destroyed in a church parking lot across the street from Easter's home.
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