Federal authorities said in court Thursday that a Pennsylvania man was aware he had a prohibited explosive in a suitcase that he checked at an airport this week.
Marc Muffley, 40, faces federal charges after an explosive was found by officials at Lehigh Valley International Airport on Monday, authorities said. He was arrested at his home in Lansford on Monday night, hours after the incident, the FBI said.
Muffley appeared in a court hearing Thursday afternoon via video from the Lehigh County Jail, wearing a navy inmate uniform.
The hearing began with federal prosecutor Sherri Stephan reading the charges against Muffley: possession of an explosive and attempting to place it on a plane.
Stephan interviewed FBI Special Agent Eddie Garcia, the arresting officer and the person who interviewed Muffley.
Garcia said he was called to the airport Monday and arrived with his partner and two bomb technicians who arrested Muffley after they found an explosive.
Garcia said Muffley “was aware of the explosives, lithium battery and butane lighter in his bag and he knew they were prohibited except for the lighter. He knew it was in his bag and was not allowed.”
Muffley’s attorney, Jonathan McDonald, asked Garcia if what was found was a manufactured firework, to which Garcia responded, “maybe.” Garcia said he recorded the interview with Muffley, and it was he who used the word “explosive,” not Muffley.
Stephan went on to say that Muffley had created a very dangerous situation when he checked in “very curious things,” including an explosive device that technicians said had two fuses. Muffley checked the bag with the intent to place it on the plane to Orlando, Florida, authorities have said.
McDonald said there was no lab report, and it was just an opinion that the device was an explosive, saying it was instead “just a firework in a bag.”
McDonald said the commercial-grade firework was not an explosive like dynamite, a bomb or a Molotov cocktail and did not meet…
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