A man who was allegedly creating pipe bombs in the bedroom of his north suburban Lindenhurst home was ordered held in federal custody Thursday.
Michael Suopys, 28, was ordered held without bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier on a charge of knowingly possessing an unregistered destructive device, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors allege that Suopys built two pipe bombs by filling a metal pipe with nitrocellulose and adding a wick, according to the statement.
Authorities were tipped off May 19 that Suopys might have been buying supplies online to build a weapon at his home in the 800 block of Jefferson Drive in Lindenhurst, Lake County prosecutors said.
Lindenhurst police and the FBI searched his home May 20 and found two pipe bombs, an empty steel pipe, a PVC pipe containing a motor, lab equipment and two metal pipes containing a cotton-like substance consistent with nitrocellulose — a highly flammable compound used in explosives, prosecutors said.
Previously, Suopys had been held on $1 million bond in Lake County Circuit Court May 22 on a felony charge of possessing bombs containing an explosive device.
The federal charge against Suopys carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. His next federal court date is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. June 15 at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.
