STAFF REPORTS
ROCHESTER — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Daniel Owens, 27, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Moynihan, who is handling the case, stated that on January 23, 2019, Greece Police Officers were called to 254 Estall Road for a report of people building bombs at that address. After knocking on the door and being let into the house, officers found several rounds of 12 gauge shotgun ammunition. Officers also found a device which appeared to be a pipe bomb, a glass bottle containing isopropyl alcohol, which officers believed was a Molotov cocktail device, and a glass jar containing metal screws and nails. During conversations with officers, the defendant admitted to building the pipe bomb and packing it with the screws and nails.
In 2018, Owens was convicted in Monroe County Court of Criminal Possession of a Firearm, and is legally prohibited from possessing ammunition.
The matter was brought by the United States Attorney’s Office as part of its Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative. PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Greece Police Department, under the direction of Chief Patrick Phelan, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 15, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Siragusa.
