An Indianola man who injured himself and two others after a grenade he possessed went off in September 2023 will spend more than two years in a federal prison.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Jerry Brandon Pearce, 56, was sentenced Tuesday to serve 25 months in a federal prison on one count of possessing an unregistered explosive device.
Pearce was originally indicted in September 2023 with felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possessing an unregistered explosive device. Records show Pearce pleaded guilty to the possession charge as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Court records show the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office responded Sept. 4, 2023, to a residence near Indianola for a report of an explosion with injuries.
Witnesses told investigators they believed the grenade was not real when Pearce was showing off the grenade before it went off and injured Pearce and two others who were in the residence, court records state.
“An investigation of the blast site revealed that Pearce had modified the unregistered explosive before accidentally setting it off, and that Pearce also possessed assembly components for building additional grenades,” a press release from the Eastern District of Oklahoma states.
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson said in the release that “Pearce put his own interests ahead of the safety of the community and caused immense harm,” and that “such caustic conduct cannot and will not be tolerated.”
The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Pearce will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve the non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.