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Man found guilty of possessing explosives
Probation or six to 18 months in prison are potential sentences.
YOUNGSTOWN — A Mahoning County jury has found a former Ferndale Avenue resident guilty of a single count of illegal possession of explosive-making chemicals.
After deliberating slightly more than one hour Thursday at the end of a 2 1‚Ñ2-day trial, a seven-woman, five-man jury presented its verdict against Randall Telshaw to Judge M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence Telshaw at 10 a.m. March 4.
Telshaw, 57, who now lives with relatives in Canfield, remains free on bond pending sentencing. He faces probation or a prison sentence of six to 18 months and a fine of up to $5,000 on the fourth- degree felony charge.
When a friend of Telshaw’s called police June 29, 2006, to check on Telshaw’s Ferndale residence after finding the door open, police spotted materials they considered suspicious and summoned the bomb squad.
Police confiscated from Telshaw’s residence 23 manuals on explosives and firearms, 37 50-pound bags of potassium nitrate and 44 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate, both fertilizers that can create an explosive device when mixed with other components.
Also seized were 330 pounds of aluminum powder and 220 pounds of potassium perchlorite, which, when mixed together, make flash powder, the prosecution said.
“There wasn’t a lot that was in dispute here. Everybody acknowledged the defendant had these chemicals. Everybody acknowledged that these chemicals were dangerous,” said Jennifer McLaughlin-Smith, an assistant county prosecutor.
“The only issue that was really ever in dispute was what he intended to do with them, and we think the jury definitely arrived at the right result in finding that he did intend to manufacture an explosive,” the prosecutor added.
Police also collected six assault-type rifles, a shotgun, thousands of rounds of ammunition, 73 rocket-propelled grenades, a Ruger pistol, a bazooka, more than 300 pounds of smokeless powder and inert mortar shells from Telshaw’s home.
Shortly after police seized these items, Telshaw admitted having the bomb-making books but said he never intended to make a bomb or hurt anyone.
After jurors rendered their verdict, McLaughlin-Smith asked Judge Durkin to revoke Telshaw’s bond and put him in jail pending sentencing.
The judge, however, continued the bond after Telshaw’s Cleveland lawyer, Eric Norton, noted that police seized all of Telshaw’s guns and explosives and that Telshaw has led a law-abiding life for 3 1‚Ñ2 years while free on bond, has no prior criminal convictions and poses no flight risk.
Norton said he was disappointed by the verdict. “I steadfastly believe that he was acting with an innocent frame of mind,” he said. “We still may appeal,” he added.
milliken@vindy.com