The federal government defines a weapon of mass destruction as any incendiary, explosive or poison gas. This covers a wide range of weapons from homemade bombs, like pipe bombs, to military weapons like rockets. It includes weapons that are designed or intended to cause serious injury, even if they aren’t used in that manner. This article will elaborate on these charges and how they could affect you.
The problem with a WMD weapons charge is that you can get affected even if you never intended to use the bomb as a weapon. Using bombs as a distraction or other nonlethal purpose may result in charges because these bombs could potentially be used to cause serious injury.
These crimes are generally meant to deter and prosecute terrorism related charges. But U.S. Attorneys are afforded a measure freedom to prosecute their own cases. This means that, even if you never intended to use a bomb in that fashion, you could still face these charges. Another issue is that bombs are unpredictable, you may think that you designed a bomb that is “relatively” contained however outside factors could magnify the destructive power.
If you were arrested for the possession or use of a bomb or explosive device then you may want to contact a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. The use of these weapons, even relatively small bombs, can result in grave federal consequences. The FBI and other federal agencies take these weapons very seriously and could issue you terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and other serious charges. Do not think that a small bomb could avoid these charges; the use of any explosive device implicates this possibility.