Honolulu Man Arrested on Improvised Explosive Device Charges

Vida G. Bottom, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Honolulu Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today the arrest of Honolulu resident Patrick C. Lopes, age 45, on a charges of possession of an unregistered firearm and carrying an explosive during commission of a felony. The unregistered firearm and explosive described in the criminal complaint was an improvised explosive device (IED) discovered outside a home in Honolulu’s Kaimuki neighborhood earlier this year.

According to the criminal complaint, on March 11, 2012, a resident of the Kaimuki home discovered an unexploded IED in close proximity to the house’s gas line and notified the landlord of the discovery. Honolulu Police responded, established a safe perimeter, and called in a police bomb squad who later rendered the device safe.

Subsequent further investigation by the Honolulu FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) culminated in criminal charges being filed against Lopes, who was arrested in his Chinatown home this morning without incident. The criminal complaint alleges that Lopes was motivated by a personal grudge against a resident of the Kaimuki house, and there is no allegation that Lopes was part of any organized terror network. Lopes will appear later today in Honolulu U.S. District Court.

The JTTF is a multi-agency task force consisting of investigators and analysts from agencies including the FBI, Honolulu Police, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, Hawaii Sheriff Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Federal Air Marshals, and Coast Guard Investigative Service.

The statutory maximum sentence for a violation of Title 26, U.S.C. Section 5861(d) (possession of unregistered firearm) is 10 years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. A violation of Title 18, U.S.C. 844(h)(2) (carrying an explosive device during the commission of a felony) carries a mandatory 10-year term of imprisonment consecutive with any other term of imprisonment. The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.