Mass. man indicted for possessing explosives, ammunition

Crime

The Hadley man was indicted for possessing ammunition and explosive materials despite being a convicted felon, prosecutors said.

A Hadley man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Springfield for allegedly possessing ammunition and explosives despite previously being convicted of a felony, prosecutors said.

Jacob D. Miller, 43, was indicted Tuesday on one count each of being a felon in possession of ammunition and of explosive materials, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. Miller’s criminal history dates back over two decades, including charges of unlawfully possessing and selling explosive materials and possessing child pornography.

Miller was arrested April 9 and charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition, the statement said. During a search at Miller’s residence in Hadley the day before, 50 rounds of ammunition were found in a bedside table, and six firearms were found in a hallway safe, according to prosecutors.

Explosive materials, dangerous chemicals, and radioactive materials, including plutonium, were also found in Miller’s home, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Prosecutors: Hadley man had decades-long “obsession” with hazardous materials

At an April 15 detention hearing, evidence submitted by prosecutors indicated that Miller has had a “long-standing and unlawful obsession” with hazardous chemicals and explosive and radioactive materials since at least 2002. During a search of Miller’s prior residence that year, investigators found a homemade pipe bomb, what appeared to be a military rocket launcher, blasting caps, bomb-making instructions, and a video of Miller igniting several improvised explosives, prosecutors said. Miller was later convicted in state court for possessing these devices, court documents show.

In 2014, the Massachusetts Radiation Control Program issued a cease-and-desist letter to Miller, who was still on probation, after discovering he was selling depleted uranium on eBay, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Three years later, Miller allegedly launched an online business called Collect the Periodic Table and sold radioactive materials, including plutonium allegedly derived from Cold War-era Soviet smoke detectors, the statement said. A listing for one of these plutonium samples can still be found online.

“It’s very understandable about the panic over the word ‘plutonium,’” said Charles E. Dolan, Miller’s defense attorney, though he argued there would have been no public hazard, as the sample purportedly contained only a minuscule amount of the chemical element.

Between June and October 2023, Miller allegedly conducted five plutonium sales, and records of these transactions were allegedly found during a search in 2025, prosecutors said in Tuesday’s statement.

Also in 2023, Miller allegedly had an associate purchase five pounds of black powder and have it shipped to his Hadley residence, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Witnesses allegedly reported that Miller later used the powder to ignite a fireball and detonate a dishwasher in his backyard during a gathering at his residence. Multiple bottles of powder from the shipment, one of which was opened, were found during the 2025 search, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The potentially hazardous substances secured and cataloged by authorities include acids, toxic elements including arsenic, fuels, alkali metals, and oxidizers, prosecutors said in the statement. The court ordered the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, who warned of the dangers that these materials posed in the event of an accident, to evaluate the residence and remove all hazardous materials.

Defendant was convicted of child porn, explosives charges in another court

Miller was convicted of one count of possessing child pornography and sentenced to seven years of probation in 2004 in Hampshire County Superior Court, prosecutors said Tuesday. In the same court, Miller was convicted on additional charges of possessing an explosive device and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail and 10 years of probation.

Due to his previous charges and convictions, Miller is prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition, and explosives under federal law, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

For the most recent charges, Miller is facing 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for each charge.

“The chemicals were all legally possessed,” Dolan said. “They were legally stored; they were properly stored.”