Moses Lake Man Sentenced To Five Years For Making, Detonating Bombs

A Grant County man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for detonating an explosive device at an apartment complex in Moses Lake three years ago.

The 60-month sentence was handed down to 33-year-old Nicholas Andrew Anardi by Judge Stanley A. Bastian in a Spokane U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Anardi's term was connected to his admission to federal agents that he built and detonated the devices in September, 2021 to frighten a man he suspected had burglarized his garage while he was incarcerated.

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Court documents say Anardi utilized the engine from a model rocket and an aerial mortar round to build the devices, which were designed to eject improvised shrapnel in the form of metal wire and pennies.

Investigators say Anardi carried the devices to his target's residence on a bicycle and lobbed the first over the fence surrounding his apartment. After it failed to detonate, Anardi then lit and rolled the second device at the apartment's door, where it exploded but did not cause any injuries.

Crews with the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad disarmed the device that failed to go off and found fragments of the exploded device almost fifty yards away, including some of the metal wire and coins embedded in the door of a neighboring apartment.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref called Anardi's actions "reckless" and "dangerous", while Special Agent in Charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Seattle Field Division, Jonathan Blais, said Anardi's sentence was "well deserved".

Following his term in prison, Anardi must also serve three years of supervised release.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy J. Ohms and Patrick J. Cashman.