A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to two and half years in jail for trying to smuggle an explosive device on board an Orlando-bound airliner in February 2023, resulting in a massive FBI response, including the bomb squad and a manhunt to track down the suspect.
Marc Muffley of Landsford, PA, was sentenced to a prison term of 30 months, followed by 3 years of supervised release at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to attempting to place an explosive device on an aircraft and possessing an explosive in an airport.
Prosecutors alleged that on the morning of February 27, 2023, Muffley entered Lehigh Valley International Airport in Pennsylvania with a bag containing an explosive device, along with a can of butane, lithium batteries, and a lighter.
Muffley checked the bag in for an Allegiant Airlines flight bound for Orlando, but it was stopped from ever being loaded onto the plane after TSA officers, who were carrying out routine x-ray screening of checked luggage, were alerted to a suspicious item in the bag.
Officers found a circular compound in the bag, which measured approximately three inches in diameter and was wrapped in wax-like paper.
An FBI bomb technician was called to the scene, and following careful examination, it was determined that the compound contained a granular type of powder that was consistent with a commercial-grade firework.
There were two fuses attached to the compound – a quick fuse and a so-called ‘hobby fuse’, which is slower and appears to have been added at a later date.
Officials paged Muffley over the airport’s public address system leading to him immediately fleeing the airport and calling his girlfriend to pick him up. Muffley then changed his phone number in a desperate attempt to prevent anyone from tracking him, but the FBI were able to track him down and arrested Muffley the following day.
The motive behind Muffley’s actions has still not been revealed, but Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia, warned that federal officials had averted a “potentially deadly incident” from taking place.
Two and a half years (probably reduced if he behaves himself in prison) seems a bit light for bringing an explosive device onto a plane and then fleeing to avoid capture.