The Virginia man pleaded guilty on Friday, accusing him of stockpiling the largest number of completed explosives in FBI history and using then-President Joe Biden’s photos for targeted practice.
Brad Spaford pleaded guilty in Norfolk federal court in Norfolk, court documents said. Each count has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. His ruling is scheduled for December.
Federal authorities said they seized about 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices at their home in Spaford on the Isle of Wight, northwest of Norfolk last fall.
Spafford’s investigation began in 2023 when informants said Spafford had stockpiled weapons and ammunition, according to court documents. An informant who is a friend and member of law enforcement told authorities that Spafford used a photo of then-President Joe Biden in his target practice and “believes that political assassination should be reclaimed,” the prosecutor wrote.
According to court documents, Spaford told informants two weeks after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s attempt to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2024. Former Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced that she is running for president. On the same day, Spaford told informants it was pursuing sniper qualifications in local gun range, court records said.
Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched for property in December.
Spafford had stored a very unstable explosive in a garage freezer next to “hot pockets and frozen corn on the cob,” according to court documents. Investigators also said they found the explosive device in an unsecured backpack labeled “#NolivesMatter.”
Spaford has remained in prison since his arrest last December. US District Judge Allenda L. Wright Allen opposed his release last January, writing that Spaford “showed the ability to be extremely dangerous.” She also said that Spaford lost three fingers in an accident involving homemade explosives in 2021.
Spafford initially pleaded not guilty to the January charges. At the time, the defense attorneys alleged that Spafford, the father of two young daughters, had a steady job as a mechanic and had no criminal history.
Defence counsel Jeffrey Swartz said during the January custody hearing at Spaford that investigators had gathered information about him since January 2023.
“And what has he done over the last two years?” Swartz said. “He bought a house. He raised his children. He has a great marriage. He does a great job and they all still exist for him.”
But investigators said their knowledge of homemade bombs was limited until the informants visited their home in Spaford, federal prosecutors wrote in a filing.
“However, the government moved quickly after the defendant stated that there was a volatile primary explosive in the freezer in October 2024 on the recorded wire,” the prosecutor wrote.
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