BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 A Bakersfield man with a prior conviction for making an explosive device has pleaded guilty to federal charges after FBI agents found 50 pounds of dynamite and methamphetamine hidden in a cave.<\/p>\n
Matthew Henry Jacober, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to being a felon in possession of explosives and manufacturing crystal meth, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of California.<\/p>\n
He faces up to a decade in prison on the explosives charge and 40 years on the meth charge, according to the release. A sentencing hearing is scheduled Feb. 17.<\/p>\n
FBI agents served a warrant in July in the 24000 block of Round Mountain Road, where Jacober had parked travel and utility trailers on property near McPherson Oil Company.<\/p>\n
A 50-pound box of dynamite and baggies and flasks containing meth were located in a cave behind the trailers, according to court filings.<\/p>\n
Jacober had been under surveillance after making posts to YouTube showing him detonating explosives, the filings say. A McPherson employee told agents he\u2019d heard \u201cloud booms\u201d in the area but didn\u2019t know where they were coming from.<\/p>\n
Prior incidents<\/p>\n
In 2021, Jacober pleaded no contest in Superior Court to making a destructive device without a permit after storing equipment in a utility trailer that tested positive for mustard gas and the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), according to the filings.<\/p>\n
In comments posted on YouTube, Jacober claimed to have booby-trapped his and a cousin\u2019s properties with vials containing the gas, filings say.<\/p>\n
When interviewed, Jacober told agents he\u2019d tested the mustard gas on his skin, describing it as feeling like \u201cpoison oak on steroids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local authorities also have had contact with Jacober.<\/p>\n
A sheriff\u2019s lieutenant told FBI agents Jacober was taken to Delano Regional Medical Center in 2016 after a homemade bomb exploded in his hand. He lost three fingers on his right hand, filings say.<\/p>\n
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