Jefferson County Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Pipe Bomb

St. Louis Co., Mo. (KFMO) - A Jefferson County man has pleaded guilty to possessing a pipe bomb discovered during a police search at his home.

38-year-old Robert Hiler admitted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device. The charge stems from a September 11, 2023, incident when Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputies were searching for a fugitive with multiple active felony warrants. Deputies executed a court-approved search warrant at Hiler’s residence and found the wanted man in the woods behind the property. After the arrest, Hiler gave officers consent to search his home. Inside, deputies located a pipe bomb sitting on a grey bucket in a room adjacent to the garage. According to court documents, Hiler confessed to constructing the device and said he planned to detonate it using a car battery.

Hiler is scheduled for sentencing in July. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.