Man pleads guilty after FBI finds 150+ ‘finished explosive devices’ at his Isle of Wight home
Court documents claim the FBI located a short barrel rifle in a safe in the master bedroom of Spafford's home
By Maddie Miller
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ISLE OF WIGHT, Virginia (WTKR) — An Isle of Wight man is pleading guilty after a raid at his home back in December resulted in what investigators called possibly the largest supply of “finished explosive devices” ever seized in the history of the FBI.
Court records filed on Monday show Brad Spafford wishes to enter a guilty plea after initially pleading not guilty. He’s charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle, although it’s unclear at this time if he’s pleading guilty to one charge or both.
The charges stem from a lengthy FBI investigation dating back to 2023, according to court documents obtained by News 3. The investigation started after a source reported that Spafford had lost some of his fingers in 2021 while working on explosive devices. The source also claimed he was stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition.
The source further shared that Spafford and his friends were allegedly preparing for something Spafford “would not be able to do alone,” court documents state.
Through the investigation, the FBI learned Spafford allegedly had an unregistered short-barrel rifle and possibly had a highly explosive substance in his freezer.
The FBI then executed the search warrant on December 17. According to federal court documents, investigators found “a stockpile of more than 150 homemade improvised explosive devices” at Spafford’s farm in Isle of Wight County—including a jar of “extraordinarily dangerous explosive material” next to food in the freezer.
Prosecutors say the explosives included pipe bombs, and some devices were marked “lethal.”
According to court documents, a number of the pipe bombs had to be detonated on-site because of how unstable they were.
A sentencing date will be scheduled for Spafford if a judge accepts his guilty plea and the associated plea agreement.
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