Jury convicts defendant in towboat pipe bomb case

Becker seen after his arrest last year following the discovery of destructive devices on several towing vessels. [West Virginia Regional Jail and Correction Facility Authority]

Nathaniel Blayn Becker, the Marietta, Ohio, man arrested on October 28 last year after suspected destructive devices were found on several towboats, has been convicted on all four counts in a federal criminal indictment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia says that, after a two-day trial, a federal jury convicted Becker on two counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device and two counts of placement of a destructive device on a vessel.

Law enforcement officers recovered the destructive devices from two different towboats moving barges on the Ohio River on October 21 and October 25, 2021. Evidence at trial revealed that Becker, 42, appeared on security video purchasing pipes and other relevant components of the devices from a Lowe’s store in Marietta on four separate occasions and close in time to when the devices were found. Around the time of the first incident, exterior security video from Lowe’s and the Walmart in Marietta showed Becker carrying pipe bomb components toward an Ohio River bridge. Investigators believe the destructive devices were dropped from the bridge.

Becker is scheduled to be sentenced on August 18, 2022, and faces up to 60 years in prison.

The jury also heard that similar devices were discovered on a third towing vessel moving barges on the Ohio River on October 26, 2021. However, those devices were found to contain non-explosive septic tank cleaner and therefore Becker was not charged.

Becker was on probation at the time of the offense, following an August 2020 conviction in the Washington County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer. Becker had brandished a knife at an officer during a traffic stop and then led police on a car chase before barricading himself in his residence. Becker was arrested after a stand-off that ended when police forced entry into the home.

“We are fortunate that no one was injured. Such senseless potential for harm and destruction clearly required decisive action,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson in making the announcement. “The swift and successful investigation by the law enforcement agencies involved absolutely prevented this situation from becoming worse, and I commend them. I applaud Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua C. Hanks and Nick Miller, along with their trial team, for securing the guilty verdict.”