Prosecutors want adult charges for teen in bomb-making case
Gaithersburg boy charged as juvenile
Prosecutors want an alleged teenage bomb maker to be tried as an adult, according to the boy's attorney.
The defendant, a Gaithersburg 17-year-old, was charged as a juvenile last summer with making pipe bombs with a Bethesda man.
The state has always had the option to ask to move the case out of juvenile court, said Rene Sandler, the Gaithersburg teen's lawyer, on Thursday. "But we don't believe that the adult court is the appropriate place for a resolution of the case," she said.
While the case remains in juvenile court, The Gazette is not identifying the teen. He is accused of helping to make and detonate pipe bombs with Collin McKenzie-Gude, 19, of Bethesda.
McKenzie-Gude faces a federal indictment for possessing an unregistered explosive device and producing false identification documents.
According to Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Peter Feeney, investigators searching McKenzie-Gude's home in July found assault rifles, two bulletproof vests loaded with armor-piercing ammunition, and more than 50 pounds of bomb-making chemicals and timers.
They also found a map of Camp David, a presidential motorcade map and counterfeit identification cards, including one from the CIA.
In addition to the federal indictment, McKenzie-Gude faces county charges of assault and attempting to carjack a 78-year-old man the day investigators searched his home.
The 17-year-old, a summer intern with the county police department, faces two felony explosives charges — manufacturing and possessing explosives with "incendiary intent."
Sandler said county police also charged him with misdemeanor theft for stealing police letterhead and unauthorized use of a computer related to his intern duties.
Feeney told a judge in court Wednesday he plans to file a petition to transfer the case, Sandler said.
"The intent of my client in this case is very different than the intent of Collin McKenzie-Gude," she said.