A man accused of placing pipe bombs on tugboats on the Ohio River was sentenced to more than eight years in prison along with another three years of supervised release.
Nathaniel Blayn Becker, 43, of Marietta, Ohio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Irene Berger of the Southern District of West Virginia.
“This was a very concerning case to me because not only did it put the workers of the tugboats at risk, it also put the general public at risk because these pipe bombs were dropped from a major interstate bridge,” U.S. Attorney Will Thompson said today.
“This case was also very perplexing to me because even as of today, we have yet to find a motive of what made Mr. Becker want to do this. That’s concerning to me now and also concerning to me when Mr. Becker is eventually released.”
This past April, a federal jury found Becker guilty of two counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device and two counts of placement of a destructive device on a vessel.
Law enforcement officers had recovered the pipe bombs from two different tugboats moving barges on the Ohio River on Oct. 21 and 25, 2021.
Becker appeared on security video purchasing pipes and other relevant components of the devices from a Lowe’s store in Marietta on four separate occasions around the dates the devices were found.
Around the time of the first incident, exterior security video from Lowe’s and the Walmart in Marietta showed Becker carrying pipe bomb components toward an Ohio River bridge. Investigators believe the destructive devices were dropped from the bridge.
Similar devices were discovered on a third tugboat moving barges on the Ohio River on October 26, 2021. However, those devices were found to contain non-explosive septic tank cleaner and therefore Becker was not charged.
“Nathaniel Becker showed complete disregard for public safety. His actions could have resulted in death or serious injury to citizens, as well as first responders who rendered those devices safe,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Shawn Morrow.
“This case demonstrates ATF’s commitment to reducing violent crime involving the criminal misuse of explosives and it highlights strong interagency cooperation across multiple jurisdictions.”
Becker was on probation at the time of the offenses, following his conviction for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer in the Washington County, Ohio, from 2020. Becker had brandished a knife at an officer during a traffic stop on Feb. 3, 2020, and then led police on a car chase before barricading himself in his residence. Becker was arrested after a standoff with law enforcement.