Traverse City, Mich.—A Michigan man who had claimed that he had more than 4,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil in his possession for use in his construction, sand, and gravel and rock quarry business has opted for a guilty plea and faces up to 10 years in prison. John Francis Lechner, 64, reached a deal last month with prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Marquette, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Maarten Vermaat. Vermaat told Green Markets that Lechner, who faced a multi-count indictment, pleaded guilty to possession of explosives while under indictment and probably will be sentenced in May or June. Lechner was arrested in September after an informant told Chippewa County sheriff’s officials that Lechner had requested help moving a large quantity of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. Authorities did not accuse Lechner of plotting to detonate the mixture, but said he violated a law prohibiting anyone under indictment from having explosives. He had been charged a month earlier with several unrelated offenses, mostly stemming from his pending divorce, his attorney said. “He had no intention of using them for any nefarious purposes,” Lechner’s lawyer, Charles Malette, told the local press. “He had no intention of hurting anybody, destroying anything. He would have used them eventually for business.” Lechner, who reportedly has 83 fifty-pound bags plus 2,000 feet of detonating cord, had been scheduled for trial March 5.
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