Crime & Safety

Anne Arundel County Bomb-Maker Receives Sentence

The Glen Burnie man whose explosive device blew off his pants pleaded guilty to federal charges.

A Glen Burnie man, whose tinkering with homemade bombs led him to blow off his pants and seek medical treatment, was sentenced Wednesday to 46 months in federal prison.

Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr., 28, pleaded guilty in May to possession of firearms and drug use. He was arrested on Jan. 1 after police discovered extensive homemade explosives, firearms, and bomb-making materials at his home on the 900 block of Edgerly Road, the Capital Gazette reported.

Wheeler told investigators sooner after his arrest that he was outfitting a flare gun to shoot explosives, Patch previously reported. The devices found in his home were capable of “maiming, injuring or killing,” according to Fire Chief Michael Cox.

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According to another Patch story, Wheeler’s original charges could have given him up to 10 years in prison.

After he was admitted to Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Wheeler told investigators that his injuries were the result of the explosion from five homemade devices at his house. The last one “blew off his pants,” court documents said.

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Photo courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police

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