Georgia inmate serving life mailed bombs from prison to D.C. office building, Alaska court, feds charge

A
man
serving
a
life
sentence
for
kidnapping
and
other
crimes
while
in
a

Georgia
prison
built
two

bombs
which
he
mailed
to
a
District
of
Columbia
office
building
and
the
federal
courthouse
and
building
in
Anchorage,
Alaska,
prosecutors
allege.

The
accused
bomb
maker,
55-year-old
David
Cassady,
allegedly
put
the
two
explosive
devices
into
the
mail
at
his
prison
in
Tattnall
County
on
Jan.
24,
2020,
according
to
an
indictment
issued
by
a
grand
jury
in
U.S.
District
Court
in
Statesboro,
Georgia.

The
bomb
that
went
to
Washington,
D.C.,
was
mailed
to
the
Bond
Building,
whose
office
tenants
include
the
Department
of
Justice.

The
indictment
alleges
Cassady
made
and
sent
the
bombs
with
the
intent
to “to
maliciously
damage
or
destroy,
by
means
of
fire
or
explosive,
a
building
in
whole
or
in
part
owned
or
possessed
by,
or
leased
to,
the
United
States,”
and “created
substantial
risk
of
injury
to
a
person.”

Neither
bomb
exploded.

Cassady
is
charged
with
one
count
of
making
an
unregistered
destructive
device,
two
counts
of
mailing
a
destructive
device
and
two
counts
of
attempted
malicious
use
of
an
explosive.

“Protecting
our
personnel
and
facilities
is
a
fundamental
role
of
our
office
and
of
our
law
enforcement
partners,”
said
U.S.
Attorney
Jill
Steinberg,
whose
office
is
prosecuting
Cassady. “We
also
will
take
action
against
inmates
who
seek
to
commit
crimes
and
harm
the
public
from
behind
bars.”

Barry
Paschal,
a
spokesman
for
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
Office,
declined
to
comment
when
asked
to
explain
the
more
than
four-year
lag
between
Cassady
allegedly
mailing
the
bombs,
and
being
charged
in
the
case.

Paschal
said
he
could
not
comment
on
details
of
the
case
beyond
those
contained
in
the
indictment.

That
charging
document
did
not
say
how
Cassady
allegedly
made
the
bombs
while
locked
up
in
prison,
the
size
of
those
devices,
how
he
mailed
them
from
prison,
and
why
he
chose
the
DOJ
headquarters
and
the
federal
courthouse
and
building
in
Anchorage
as
his
targets.

A
spokeswoman
for
the
Georgia
Department
of
Corrections
said, “Cassady
was
able
to
manipulate
primarily
items
he
was
authorized
to
possess
into
makeshift
explosive
devices.”

“We
appreciate
the
support
of
our
federal
partners
in
ensuring
that
justice
will
be
served
on
this
individual
for
his
role
in
jeopardizing
the
safe
operations
of
our
facilities,
and
most
importantly,
the
safety
of
the
public,”
said
the
spokeswoman,
Joan
Heath.

Cassady
has
a
long
criminal
record
dating
to
the
late
1980s,
when
he
was
sentenced
to
prison
for
three
years
after
convictions
for
six
counts
of
first-degree
forgery.

Corrections
Department
records
show
he
began
serving
his
most
recent
stint
in
prison
in
1993,
after
being
convicted
of
kidnapping,
aggravated
sodomy,
impersonating
an
officer
and
false
imprisonment.

While
in
prison
in
Tattnal
County,
Cassady
was
convicted
of
crimes
in
2019
including
terroristic
threats
and
acts,
false
statements,
gang
participation,
and
conspiracy,
records
show.