A Charles City man will spend over 10 years in federal prison for making pipe bombs and dealing drugs.
34-year-old Thomas Downer confessed in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to selling more than five grams of pure meth on October 27, 2020. He further admitted possessing and selling five pipe bombs on October 30, 2020, as well as possessing firearms as a convicted felon on November 13, 2020.
Federal prosecutors say Downer’s pipe bombs were made of plastic plumbing pipe and included BBs and nails as shrapnel.
Downer has pleaded guilty and has been ordered to spend 14 years behind bars. After serving his sentence, Downer must spend five years on supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Court records show Downer was convicted in Floyd County of first-degree harassment in 2016 and domestic abuse assault -strangulation in August 2018.
