SACRAMENTO - A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment today against Thomas Wayne Capenhurst, 33, of Dixon, and Robert Lee McGraw, 20, of Fairfield, charging both men with conspiracy, malicious use of explosive materials, and using a destructive device during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. The indictment also charges McGraw with possessing an unregistered destructive device.
According to court documents, Capenhurst offered to pay McGraw and another man $10,000 each to place pipe bombs at his brother’s house in Suisun City. According to the complaint, Capenhurst gave McGraw three homemade pipe bombs and directed him to “try to knock the house down.”
The complaint alleges that on February 17, 2018, McGraw walked to the front door of a home on Blue Jay Drive in Suisun City, just before 1:00 a.m., and set one of the pipe bombs on the front porch. According to the complaint, McGraw lit the fuse, banged on the front door, and then ran. Afterwards, the pipe bomb detonated and blew the front door off its hinges. Law enforcement found pieces of metal shrapnel lodged in the home’s exterior walls, and windows broken nearby. Court documents state that a family of five was active inside the home, having just returned from a trip to the Bay Area.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force, and the Suisun City Police Department. Special assistance was provided by the Dixon Police Department, Fairfield Police Department, Vacaville Police Department, Vallejo Police Department, Benicia Police Department, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Delgado is prosecuting the case.
If convicted of malicious use of explosive materials, Capenhurst and McGraw both face a penalty of not less than five years, and up to 20 years, in prison, and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of using a destructive device during a crime of violence, each defendant faces a penalty of not less than 30 years in prison, up to life, and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of conspiracy, Capenhurst and McGraw face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of possessing an unregistered destructive device, McGraw faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
