NEW YORK: A New York man accused of plotting to set off homemade explosives he had stashed at sites across Manhattan has been indicted, federal prosecutors said.
Michael Gann, 55, built at least seven improvised explosive devices last month with chemicals he bought online in May and took the bombs to Manhattan, according to an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury.
Gann, of Long Island, stored some on the devices on the rooftops of adjoining residential buildings and threw another onto the subway tracks on the Williamsburg Bridge, prosecutors said.
No one was injured by any of the devices. Gann was arrested in early June near the buildings, and authorities said he he had one of the devices in his possession.
Gann put “countless lives at risk,” Jay Clayton, the interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Gann is charged with attempted destruction of property by means of explosives, transportation of explosive materials, and unlawful possession of destructive devices. He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
A judge ordered Gann detained following a bail hearing. His lawyer, Martin Cohen, declined comment Wednesday.
