Former Harlem Teacher Gets Prison Time For Bomb Making, Feds Say

HARLEM, NY — A former Harlem high school teacher will spend nearly six years in prison for enlisting his students to help manufacture explosives, federal prosecutors announced.

Christian Toro, 28, was sentenced Wednesday to 70 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges such as conspiracy to manufacture and unlawfully possess a destructive device, unlawfully manufacturing a destructive device and unlawfully possessing a destructive device, prosecutors said. Toro and his brother Tyler Tor were arrested in February after federal agents searched their Bronx apartment and found bomb-making materials.

A federal investigation into the brothers began in December of 2017 when Christian Toro resigned from his teaching position at Harlem Prep High School, a charter school located on East 123rd Street and Second Avenue.

School employees found copies of a book that detailed how to construct explosive devices on a laptop returned to the school after Toro's resignation. During the investigation, agents interviewed students at the school who said the Toro brother's paid them $50 per hour to break down fireworks to extract the explosive powder in their Bronx apartment.

The materials recovered from Toro's apartment included: A glass jar containing explosive powder, strips of magnesium metal, a mixture of iron oxide and aluminum powder, the key ingredients for thermite, five pounds of potassium nitrate and a cardboard box containing firecrackers.

Cryptic threats were also found in a diary that was seized when agents searched Toro's apartment. The passages included threats such as "WE ARE TWIN TOROS STRIKE US NOW, WE WILL RETURN WITH NANO THERMITE" and "I AM HERE 100%, LIVING, BUYING WEAPONS. WHATEVER WE NEED."

The diary also referenced an "Operation Flash," which appeared to detail the process of having students break down fireworks for the explosive material.

"Today’s sentence serves as a message that building and stockpiling destructive devices are grave offenses in and of themselves," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.

"Christian Toro has nevertheless received a substantial sentence for seriously endangering the public (including minor children) and inspiring fear throughout his community with his conduct."

Tyler Toro is expected to be sentenced on May 29, federal prosecutors said.