ALLENTOWN, Penn. – A Pennsylvania man accused of trying to place explosives on board a passenger plane bound for Central Florida has agreed to plead guilty.
Marc Muffley, 41, was arrested last March after federal investigators said he checked a suitcase at Lehigh Valley International Airport with an explosive device hidden in the lining.
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The Allegiant Airlines flight it was checked to was bound for Orlando-Sanford International Airport.
According to federal investigators, after an alert during security screening, the bag was examined and found hidden in the lining was a “circular compound” about three inches in diameter encased in a wax-like paper and clear plastic wrap.
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An FBI bomb technician X-rayed the compound and concluded that it contained a granular powder consistent with a “commercial grade firework” and “suspected to be a mixture of flash powder and the dark granulars that are used in commercial grade fireworks.”
Attached to it was a “quick fuse” similar to a candle wick — apparently part of the original manufacture of the compound — as well as a “hobby fuse” that burns more slowly and appeared to have been added after the manufacture, authorities said.
Authorities said Muffley was paged over the airport’s public address system and shortly thereafter he was seen leaving the airport. He was traced to a Lansford address where he was arrested by the FBI
Muffley was set to go on trial on Friday, however, court records show he agreed to plead guilty to the two charges against him: attempting to place an explosive device on an airplane and possession of an explosive device inside an airport.
Muffley remains in federal custody.
He will be sentenced on May 7.
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