Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm
sentenced Richard Butler III, age 36, of Landover, Maryland today to 243 months
in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for being a felon in
possession of an explosive; malicious use of explosive materials; and
transportation of explosive materials with intent to kill, injure, or
intimidate, in connection with the attempted firebombing of his girlfriend’s
apartment.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the
District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field
Division; Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Benjamin M. Barksdale; and
Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, on March 4, 2016, at 3:25
a.m., the Prince George’s County Fire Department (PGFD) were called to an
apartment complex in Landover, Maryland for an automated general fire alarm,
and located the remnants of a fire in the master bedroom of apartment 102. The fire had been extinguished by the fire
sprinkler system prior to the arrival of the PGFD. Firefighters discovered that the master
bedroom window had been broken and requested fire investigators from the Prince
George’s County Fire Investigations Division to examine the apartment.
Fire investigators located a concrete brick inside the
master bedroom on the floor between the bed and window and near the brick, an
improvised incendiary device—specifically, a clear plastic water bottle
containing an unknown liquid, and a paper towel protruding from the mouth of
the bottle. A similar plastic bottle was
found melted to the top of the burned bed.
Outside, investigators located a blue plastic one-quart motor oil
container. The ATF Forensic Science
Laboratory examined the plastic bottles, which revealed the presence of
gasoline.
At the time of the incident, two adults and three minors
were in the apartment, which was leased by Butler’s girlfriend. She was not in the apartment at that time of
the fire because she was at the Prince George’s County Police Department in
connection with a complaint of sexual abuse involving Butler and her minor
daughter. Butler’s girlfriend reported
that she had last seen Butler at 11:28 p.m. and he was a wearing a black coat,
blue jeans, and red, white, and blue sneakers.
Investigators reviewed surveillance videos from a nearby gas
station which showed an individual wearing the clothing described by Butler’s
girlfriend who pumped gas into three containers—two of which appeared to be
clear plastic water bottles, and the third, a blue container which he retrieved
from a trash can located next to the pump.
The individual then entered the restroom and exited with paper towels in
his hand, got a white plastic bag from the cashier and placed the containers in
the plastic bag and walked away. During
an interview with investigators on March 7, 2016, Butler’s girlfriend was shown
a screen-capture from the gas station’s surveillance footage of the individual
standing near the gas pumps, which she identified as Butler.
A subsequent review of the ATF National Firearms
Registrations and Transfer Records determined that there were no destructive
devices legally registered to Butler. In
addition, Butler was prohibited from possessing destructive devices due to a previous
felony conviction.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur praised the ATF, the
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, and the Prince George’s County
Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney
Jennifer R. Sykes, who prosecuted the case.
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