A San Jose man whose arrest shut down a neighborhood while authorities searched his home for explosives was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for bombing PG&E electrical transformers in San Jose on two occasions in 2022 and 2023, prosecutors said.
Peter Karasev, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of willfully destroying energy facilities in April for the incidents, admitting that he had used explosive devices he made himself to damage the facilities and spark widespread blackouts in the surrounding areas, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice. He also admitted that the plans were deliberate and premeditated.
Peter Karasev, 36, of San Jose, has been arrested in connection with a San Jose Police Department investigation into suspected explosives-related and illegal drug offenses, authorities said. (San Jose Police Dept.)
He is being prosecuted separately in Santa Clara County on two counts of igniting a destructive device, one count of arson, two counts of interfering with electrical lines, a count of possessing bomb-making materials, and three counts of felony child endangerment.
San Jose police were called in the early morning hours of Jan. 5, 2023 to the intersection of Snell Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard after a transformer exploded and caused damage to surrounding buildings, including a dental office whose windows were blown out. The ensuing investigation linked that explosion to a similar event involving a PG&E transformer Dec. 8, 2022 on Thornwood Drive, in front of the Oakridge Macy’s.
A combination of surveillance video, including from a parked Tesla, and cell phone ping tracking were used by police to pinpoint who was in the areas during these early-morning incidents. That search led them to suspect Karasev, according to an investigative summary accompanying the original criminal complaint.
Authorities with the FBI, aided by members of the California National Guard trained in handling and securing explosives, raided Karasev’s home on Potomac Court in South San Jose in March 2023. Nearby homes were evacuated as responders worked to secure the scene for several days.
The two attacks caused more than $200,000 in damage to businesses and caused outages to more than 1,500 houses in the city, authorities said. Fifteen of the impacted households were part of PG&E’s Medical Baseline Program, which means they required power to run life-saving medical equipment.
“Karasev’s attacks on critical infrastructure were direct threats to public safety and national security,” Craig H. Missakian, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, said in a statement. “He aimed to inflict widespread disruption and harm, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to holding accountable those who threaten the safety and well-being of the residents of San Jose.”
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman also sentenced Karasev, whose most recent occupation was as a machine-learning engineer in the Bay Area, to three years of supervised release, authorities said. He was ordered to pay $214,880.67 in restitution and $200 in special assessment.
“Karasev’s specialized knowledge in explosives, the vast quantity of bombmaking materials discovered in his home, and his readiness to deploy both against our Nation’s energy infrastructure made him a very dangerous individual who posed a significant risk to public safety,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement.
Prior to the bombings, Karasev had carried out “extensive” internet searches on geopolitical conflicts, attacks on infrastructure and explosives, authorities said.
“This defendant admitted to attacking critical infrastructure which could have harmed people in the San Jose, California community and he will now face the consequences of his actions,” Assistant Director Donald Holstead of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division said in a statement. “This individual conducted research and prepared homemade explosives which knocked out power to multiple homes and caused more than $200,000 in property damage to local businesses.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne C. Hsieh with assistance from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, authorities said. It was investigated by the FBI and the San Jose Police Department.
Karasev was remanded into custody after his hearing to begin serving his sentence, authorities added.