David Dwayne Cassady, inmate in Georgia.
Courtesy: Georgia Department of Corrections
A man serving a life sentence for kidnapping and other crimes while in a Agriculture prison built two bombs which was mailed to a District of Columbia office building and federal courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, prosecutors allege.
Accused bomb maker David Cassady, 55, allegedly mailed the two explosive devices to his Tattnall County jail on Jan. 24, 2020, according to an indictment handed up by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Statesboro, Georgia.
The bomb that went to Washington, DC, was mailed to the Bond Building, whose office tenants include the Department of Justice.
The indictment alleges that Cassady constructed and sent the bombs with the intent to “maliciously damage or destroy, by fire or explosives, a building in whole or in part owned or occupied or leased by the United States” and created a substantial risk of injury to a person”.
No bomb went off.
Cassady is charged with one count of manufacturing an unregistered destructive device, two counts of sending a destructive device and two counts of attempted malicious use of an explosive.
“Protecting our personnel and facilities is a fundamental role of our office and our law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg, whose office is prosecuting Cassady. “We will also take action against prisoners who seek to commit crimes and harm the public behind bars.”
Barry Paschal, a spokesman for the US Attorney, declined to comment when asked to explain the more than four-year delay between Cassady allegedly mailing the bombs and being charged in the case.
Paschal said he could not comment on details of the case beyond those contained in the indictment.
That charging document did not say how Cassady made the bombs while locked up in prison, the size of those devices, how he mailed them from prison, and why he chose DOJ headquarters and the federal courthouse and building in Anchorage as targets.
A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections said: “Cassady was able to manipulate primarily items he was authorized to possess into improvised explosive devices.”
“We appreciate the support of our federal partners in ensuring that this individual is brought to justice for his role in jeopardizing the safe operation of our facilities and more importantly, the safety of the public,” said spokeswoman Joanne Heath.
Cassady has a lengthy criminal record dating back to the late 1980s, when he was sentenced to three years in prison following convictions on six counts of first-degree forgery.
Department of Corrections records show he began serving his most recent prison term in 1993 after convictions for kidnapping, sodomy, impersonating an officer and false imprisonment.
While in the Tattnal County Jail, Cassady was convicted of crimes in 2019, including terroristic threats and acts, false statements, gang participation and conspiracy, records show.