A D.C.-area couple faces federal charges for allegedly arranging the sale of dynamite and other powerful explosives online.
Brittany Nicole Adams, of Maryland, and Steven Anthony Benson Jr., of D.C., were indicted Wednesday and taken into custody Friday. Federal prosecutors say they advertised dynamite on the website OfferUp and arranged sales in the parking lot of the Benning Road Metro station and the Home Depot on Rhode Island Avenue NE.
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Adams and Benson sold several explosive devices to an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, prosecutors say. The agent took audio and video recordings.
They pleaded not guilty, a defense attorney told News4.
The explosives are “very dangerous and of [such] great power that each of the explosives devices could inflict great harm or death,” prosecutors said. One photo shows a yellow and blue striped device that was 15 inches long and 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
Adams and Benson each were charged with unlawful distribution of explosive devices and conspiracy to distribute them.
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Their attorney will ask for them to be released from jail pending trial.
