Hearing Delayed In Philly Airport Explosives Probe
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A bail hearing was postponed Friday for a northeastern Pennsylvania man accused of trying to board a cross-country flight with explosives in his bag.
Joseph Picklo, 29, made a brief appearance in federal court Friday but his detention hearing was rescheduled for next Tuesday. He will remain in custody in the meantime, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said.
Picklo, of Dallas in Luzerne County, faces a federal charge of attempting to carry an explosive device onto an aircraft, which prosecutors said carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
A criminal complaint states he was in possession of "two homemade M-80s, a plastic bottle wrapped in electrical tape and partially filled with a powdery mixture, and a test tube filled with another powdery substance which also included a wick" when passing through security around 5:30 a.m. Thursday at Philadelphia International Airport as he was about to board a flight to San Francisco.
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Steven Bartholomew said the materials are being sent to its lab for analysis.
He was stopped when TSA screeners noticed something unusual in the backpack, investigators said. Picklo never made it through security and no one was ever in danger, police said. According to investigators, Picklo indicated he forgot that the items were in his bag.
A phone listing for Picklo could not immediately be located.
No flights were delayed and the security checkpoint was reopened an hour later, officials said.
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