Man headed to trial on explosives charges

A Kaysville man is headed to trial after entering not-guilty pleas to four federal charges related to his alleged possession of dynamite.

Jeffery Scott Sill entered his pleas during a hearing last week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul M. Warner. Sill, 42, was indicted Oct. 28 on charges of possession of stolen explosives, possession of unregistered explosives, being a felon in possession of explosives, and an explosives-storage violation.

Sill was originally charged in Davis County with recklessness with an incendiary device, a second-degree felony. Prosecutors dismissed the charge once Sill was indicted in federal court.

On Oct. 3, Sill's former landlord contacted police after she allegedly discovered two sticks of dynamite in a kitchen drawer of the apartment Sill had been evicted from. "There were also two blasting caps," Kaysville police detective Bryan Barry said following Sill's arrest. "They have tested it, and it definitely is dynamite."

The apartment complex where Sill lived sits just off 200 North in Kaysville in an area with a mix of homes and businesses. Barry said bomb technicians told police that if the dynamite had exploded, the results would have been catastrophic.

The case against Sill is not the first time he's been accused of possessing explosives. In 1995, he pleaded guilty to recklessness with an incendiary device and possession of a controlled substance. Sill was ordered to serve one year in jail.

Sill remains in federal custody. A four-day trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 4.

— Geoff Liesik