Tuesday, March 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
A Henderson man charged with possession of stolen dynamite from a construction company is being held without bail pending a March 24 preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court.
Federal authorities believe James West, 29, may be linked to the theft of at least 200 pounds of dynamite Jan. 25 from Three Kids Mine off Lake Mead Drive east of Henderson. But a federal public defender assigned to West said he will plead not guilty.
The stolen dynamite is believed to have included 23 two-pound sticks of explosives authorities found March 2 in an unmarked cardboard box near the U.S. Post Office on Boulder Highway in Henderson. The discovery of that box led authorities to evacuate several surrounding businesses for a couple hours. No one was injured.
On Saturday, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested West at his home at 255 Apache Lane, where he lives with an aunt and grandmother. They found 23 sticks of dynamite at that residence, and recovered an additional 150 pounds of explosives Sunday from a culvert off U.S. 95 near Mount Charleston.
During an initial appearance Monday before U.S. District Judge Myron Leavitt, Assistant Federal Public Defender Deborah Trevino argued that West wasn't a flight risk and should be released from custody. A pre-trial report concurred with her argument.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Schuit argued that West posed a danger to society, and Leavitt agreed.
Schuit said West initially hid from authorities when they came to his home to arrest him. The attorney also said West first told authorities he planned to blow up the Henderson Police Department, then changed his story and said he planned to dynamite "tweakers," or drug users.
Leavitt reacted to the statement about the police department by noting: "If that's true, he poses as large a danger as anyone who has ever been in this courtroom." If West was kidding about the police department, "he has a twisted sense of humor," Leavitt added.
Schuit said West has a history of substance abuse. The attorney added that he wasn't sure whether West had a job, but in any case wasn't employed by the construction company.
West faced felony charges in 1995 of grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle, but blamed his attorney at the time for his failure to appear in court in that case. It was not immediately known how that case was disposed.
Among West's tattoos is a swastika, but Schuit said he didn't know if West was connected with any neo-Nazi or militia groups. Schuit added that at least 100 sticks of dynamite reported stolen from the construction company have not yet been recovered.
It is common for cases such as this to go before a federal grand jury for a possible indictment prior to the preliminary hearing date.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
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