Department of Justice

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned indictments charging RORY MOCARSKY, 47, and DAVID BOURNE, 37, both of Hartland, with firearms offenses.

 

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, on December 6, 2018, Connecticut State Police responded to Mocarsky’s residence in Hartland after reports of gunfire and explosions at the property, and after viewing a YouTube video showing Mocarsky and Bourne engaged in activities involving firearms and explosives. A search of the property revealed an 8mm rifle, three .22 caliber rifles, a suspected homemade silencer, ammunition, a suspected improvised explosive device (“IED”), suspected post-blast IED devices and fragments, suspected explosive materials, and other electronic devices. A related search of a location in the Tunxis State Forest in East Hartland, where Mocarsky and Bourne had recorded explosions, revealed metal fragments, a section of PVC pipe, and PVC pipe fragments from a suspected IED.

 

It is alleged that Mocarsky was convicted of a state felony drug offense in 1994. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

 

On May 7, 2019, the grand jury returned an indictment charging Mocarsky with one count of possession of firearms by a convicted felon. Mocarsky was originally arrested on a federal criminal complaint on April 17, 2019. He is released on a $10,000 bond and will be arraigned on the indictment on May 17.

 

Also on May 7, the grand jury returned an indictment charging Bourne with two counts of possession of unregistered destructive devices. Bourne was arrested yesterday. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges and is detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for May 14.

 

Each of the charges carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

 

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and Connecticut State Police. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.