May 2, 2002
U.S. Department of
Justice
United States
Attorney
Northern District of California
450
Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055
11th Floor, Federal Building
San
Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 436-7200
Fax
415) 436-7234
San Jose, California Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Explosives on eBay
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced today that Roger Ver was sentenced to 10 months in prison for selling explosives on the online auction site, eBay. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel following a guilty plea on one count of dealing in explosives without a license in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(a)(1); one count of illegally storing explosives in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(j); and one count of mailing injurious articles in violation Title 18, United States Code, Section 1716. Mr. Ver, 22, of San Jose, was charged in an information filed in federal district court on August 8, 2001. According to the plea agreement, Mr. Ver admitted to engaging in the business of selling explosives without a license from January 1999 through August 2000. According to the information and plea agreement, Mr. Ver sold explosive devices described as “Pest Control Report 2000” on the online auction site eBay. He purchased approximately 49 pounds of the devices from a supplier in South Carolina, and sold at least 14 pounds of the devices to bidders on eBay. While engaging in the business of selling explosive devices, Mr. Ver stored the explosives in a residential apartment building and mailed the devices via the United States Mail in a manner contrary to Postal Service regulations. Judge Fogel sentenced the Defendant to 10 months in federal prison, a fine of $2,000, as well as a three-year period of supervised release. The Defendant will begin serving the sentence on August 2, 2002. The prosecution was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Scott Frewing is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Lauri Gomez.
A copy of this press release and related court documents may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at
www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415)436-7181 or Elizabeth de la Vega at (408)535-5032.
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