Robert Hiler, 38, of Dittmer has admitted to possessing a pipe bomb. The bomb was found at his home when Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies went there to arrest another man who was wanted on several felony warrants, according to court records.
Hiler on April 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24, court records show.
Hiler may be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined up to $250,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Deputies on Sept. 11, 2023, went to a home in the 7900 block of Riverview Drive in Dittmer in search of Michael Roberts who was wanted a warrant, according to the guilty plea.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office narcotics investigators and SWAT members, along with other law enforcement officers, executed a search warrant at the Dittmer home. Roberts, who was wanted for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a weapon, allegedly ran from the home into woods near the Big River, the Sheriff’s Office previously reported.
Officers pursued him through the woods and across the Big River before arresting him, the report said.
After Roberts was arrested, Hiler allowed officers to search the home. A pipe bomb was found on a gray bucket in a room adjacent to the garage, according to Hiler’s guilty plea.
Hiler admitted to building the pipe bomb and said he planned to ignite it with a car battery, the plea said.
The Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. attorneys John Ware and Mohsen Pasha are prosecuting the case.
Roberts, 50, of Cedar Hill on Feb. 18 pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13, court documents show.
According to his guilty plea, a pistol was found where Roberts was seen running in the wooded area near the home. After initially saying the pistol “may be” and “probably” was his, Roberts told an ATF special agent on April 10 that it did belong to him.
Roberts previously was convicted of at least one federal drug charge and four felonies in Jefferson County, according to court records.
In November 1997, Roberts was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted of manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, courts records said.
In April 2014, he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of resisting arrest and one count of assaulting or attempting to assault a law enforcement officer in November 2011 in Jefferson County. He was sentenced to four years in prison, court documents said.
In April 2019, Roberts pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance stemming from a December 2016 arrest in Jefferson County. He was sentenced to four years in jail, court records show.