A Mayfair man who had 100 pounds of explosives in his house was sentenced to 15 months in prison
Evgenii Sadrislamov, 23, was initially described by law enforcement as seeking to build weapons of mass destruction. His lawyers say he was simply a fireworks enthusiast.
A man who was accused of trying to build weapons of mass destruction inside his family’s Mayfair home was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in federal prison.
Evgenii Sadrislamov, 23, was initially described by law enforcement as having posed a “huge danger to the community” when he was arrested last year. Police and prosecutors said Sadrislamov had nearly 100 pounds of explosives inside his house when they were called there by a neighbor who’d seen smoke emanating from the garage, and the materials investigators found were enough to “level” Sadrislamov’s entire block.
Earlier this year, however, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the most serious charge against Sadrislamov and recommend he spend no more than 18 months behind bars in exchange for him pleading guilty to illegally possessing explosives and storing them improperly.
And in a sentencing memo filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Sadrislamov’s attorney said he was a fireworks enthusiast whose “true love in life is pyrotechnics.”
“Mr. Sadrislamov is far from the bomb-making mastermind prosecutors initially described,” Assistant Federal Defender Jeremy Isard wrote. “He is a lifelong fireworks enthusiast, who for all his technical rigor and admirable scientific curiosity, at times pursued his hobby with a carelessness that endangered others.”
Isard acknowledged in the memo that Sadrislamov was barred from possessing explosive materials due to a prior conviction for criminal mischief. He admitted that Sadrislamov did not store his chemicals safely.
He also said Sadrislamov, a Russian immigrant, is likely to be deported when his prison sentence is over.
Beyond that, however, Isard said much about Sadrislamov’s future remains unclear — even as he has taken steps to be accountable for his prior conduct.
“This case has always been about a passionate hobbyist who was careless — and who broke the law by being careless. Not more,“ the sentencing memo said. ”Evgenii has a long life ahead of him. He will find new pursuits that require precision, ingenuity, math, and experimentation. It won’t be pyrotechnics. "