A San Antonio man accused of placing pipe bombs at two local ATMs has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, federal officials said Thursday.
Dustin Jay Ammons, 44, pleaded guilty in April to one count of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of explosive materials, transport by non-licensee, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez on Tuesday sentenced Ammons to 11 years and 8 months in federal prison for the felon in possession charge and to 10 years for the explosives charge. The sentences will be served at the same time.
Ammons has a lengthy criminal history, with earlier convictions on charges of assault/family violence, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of burglary tools, and multiple counts of theft and burglary, according to Bexar County court records.
Ammons tried to destroy ATMs at two San Antonio banks this past September, according to a federal criminal complaint. Video from surveillance cameras showed Ammons arriving at the banks in a black Ram 3500 pickup. He wore black gloves with a skeleton hand design, a black hooded jacket or sweatshirt dark blue pants and black and white training shoes.
The videos showed Ammons placing pipe bombs at the ATMs, followed by explosions, according to federal officials.
Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives served a search warrant at Ammons’ home and found a homemade explosives laboratory that included pentaerythritol tetranitrate, an explosive material. Agents also found guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, along with a pipe bomb in his vehicle, according to federal officials.