Bennington Man Found Guilty Of Possessing Bomb
Monday, February 17, 2025, 10:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
RUTLAND, VT.- Last week, a 42-year-old Bennington, Vermont, man and drug-addicted bomb maker could be facing up to 35 years in federal prison when sentenced, after a federal jury found him guilty in connection with possessing an explosive device that was found in his former Bennington, Vermont home in February of 2023.
On Thursday, February 13, 2025, following a trial in Federal Court in Rutland, Vermont, a jury found Tyler Hayes, 42, of Bennington, Vermont, guilty of Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device; and Possession of a Destructive Device While being an Unlawful User of a Controlled Substance.
After the jury returned its findings of guilt, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante accepted the verdict and filed it with the District Court. Judge Laplante ordered Hayes to remain detained in federal custody pending sentencing, which will be scheduled at a time and date to be scheduled by the District Court. Hayes has been in custody since his arrest on January 19, 2024.
According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher and evidence presented at trial, a bomb was found in Hayes’s former Bennington, Vermont residence just days after he abandoned the property in February 2023. The property manager contacted the Bennington Police Department to report the bomb’s discovery. Law enforcement officers were able to defuse the bomb successfully.
During the trial, witnesses described how Hayes had been discussing and constructing bombs for several months and had offered to trade one of his homemade bombs for the illicit narcotic “fentanyl.” Other witnesses described making admissions after the bomb was discovered, including that he was “on the run” after the property manager located the device.
An explosives expert from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives testified at trial that, although the homemade bomb was rudimentary and simplistic, being constructed from a combination of a pipe bomb and flammable liquids stored in plastic water bottles, it nonetheless capable of causing substantial destruction and injury had it been detonated.
