Burleson would-be bomber gets 14 years for firearms, child porn charges
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - A Burleson man who law enforcement officials said idolized the Columbine High School killers and possessed a homemade bomb was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
Noah Robert Calderon, 22, was charged via criminal complaint in April and indicted in May. He pleaded guilty in July to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm and one count of receipt of child pornography and was sentenced on Nov. 3.
"There is no greater example of the Justice Department's, and our U.S. Attorney's Office's, commitment to protecting the public—including protecting the children in our community—than our efforts in this case," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.
U.S. District Judge Reed C. O'Connor, also ordered him to 30 years of supervised release.
The investigation into Calderon began in October 2022, when the FBI received a tip about his social media activity. Court documents indicated that online, Calderon professed a fascination with high-profile mass shootings, particularly the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. He reportedly posted numerous images of himself in tactical-style vests posing with AR-15-style rifles. He also shared Columbine-themed memes along with images of homemade explosives, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In March 2023, the FBI received another tip that Calderon had detonated a homemade bomb in his neighborhood. He later admitted buying explosive precursors online. He also reportedly admitted that he stored 659.2 grams of explosive powder, along with a lighter, cannon fuse, cardboard tubing, a glass jar marked "frag" that contained metal ball bearings, lead, a funnel, and measuring spoons, in his garage.
Investigators said a search of Calderon's Google account revealed queries related to the Columbine killers, the Charleston church shooter, "pipe bomb how to make," "how to make propane bombs," and "wear [sic] were the propane bombs in Columbine," as well as searches of the names of several local public schools.
In plea papers, Caldron admitted to searching for bomb-making information and a search of his phone showed sexually explicit videos taken from a video chat between Calderon and a 13-year-old girl. Investigators said he admitted he knew how young she was when he saved the videos.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office, the Burleson Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives' Dallas Field Division conducted the investigation.
"Today's sentence is a shared success with the community who heeded the call to action to report suspicious activity when they saw suspicious activity. The information shared with law enforcement exhibited a distinctive pathway to further violence, that was ultimately thwarted by law enforcement and led to multiple federal charges," said Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough.
