Man pleads guilty to transporting explosive materials to local park
By Karin Johnson
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MASON, Ohio (WLWT) — A 21-year-old Mason man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to a felony charge of illegally transporting explosive materials.
James Phillips, 21, was arrested in April by the FBI after agents executed search warrants at his parents’ home on Sentinel Oak Drive in Mason as well as locations in Oxford and Liberty Township.
Investigators said at the time that Phillips spent 13 months building explosive devices in a shed behind the home and then transported them to parks, including the Lebanon soccer complex, to detonate them.
Phillips’ attorney, Scott Croswell, has maintained that this was a hobby for Phillips, who had an interest in chemistry, influenced by his chemist parents.
“Look, a condition of his plea is that he not engage in this type of conduct or even possess the type of chemicals that were used in this. I mean, he’s a young kid, this has been a traumatic thing for him. He’s learned his lesson. I don’t think anyone has to worry about. And frankly, I think if the government felt that there was any likelihood of him repeat misconduct, they would not have entered into the plea today,” Croswell said.
For those in the Mason community who had concerns, Croswell assured, “I think the probabilities of him engaging in this type of conduct, again, is virtually nonexistent.”
Phillips was not formally sentenced Wednesday, but both sides discussed a sentenced they agreed, which would include three years probation and 100 hours of community service cleaning up the park in Lebanon. A sentencing date has not been set.
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