An inmate at Phillips State Prison in Buford is facing new charges for allegedly constructing and mailing bombs to federal facilities.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Georgia, David Cassady, 55, is serving a life sentence at the facility in Buford. Georgia Department of Corrections data showed he was currently imprisoned after he was convicted on charges including gang participation and kidnapping.
U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg said Cassady has now been charged with Making an Unregistered Destructive Device; two counts of Mailing a Destructive Device; and two counts of Attempted Malicious Use of an Explosive, in addition to those initial charges.
An indictment returned by the Grand Jury in the Southern District of Georgia said Cassady was previously an inmate in the now-closed Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Ga. At that time, Cassady allegedly constructed destructive devices and mailed two of them via U.S. Mail to the United States Courthouse and Federal Building in Anchorage, Alaska, and to a federal facility at 1400 New York Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
The indictment also alleged the bombs were sent in an attempt “to maliciously damage or destroy, by means of fire or explosive, a building in whole or in part owned or possessed by, or leased to, the United States,” and “created substantial risk of injury to a person.”
“Protecting our personnel and facilities is a fundamental role of our office and of our law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “We also will take action against inmates who seek to commit crimes and harm the public from behind bars.”
There is no parole in the federal system.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI Anchorage Office, Homeland Security Investigations Federal Protective Service, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Department of Corrections Office of Professional Responsibility, and Prosecuted for the United States of America by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Alexander Hamner.
