BOSTON — A Massachusetts man accused of selling plutonium and depleted uranium on eBay, and with previous criminal convictions, has been indicted for illegally having ammunition and explosives, the U.S. Attorney said Tuesday.
Jacob D. Miller, 43, of Hadley, was indicted on one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition and one count of being a felon in possession of explosive materials, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement.
Prosecutors said explosive materials, hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials, including plutonium, were found in Miller’s home in western Massachusetts.
Miller was arrested on April 9 on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of ammunition. He remains in federal custody as the court has taken the matter of pretrial detention under advisement.
On April 8, after executing a search warrant at Miller’s Hadley home, investigators found a box of approximately 50 rounds of Federal brand, American Eagle .45 auto and 230 grain ammunition in a bedside table, in addition to six firearms found in a hallway safe, Foley said.
“Miller has exhibited a long-standing and unlawful obsession with explosives, dangerous chemicals and radioactive substances dating back to at least 2002,” prosecutors said, citing evidence presented at a subsequent detention hearing.
That year, in 2002, during a search of Miller’s previous home, “blasting caps, bomb-making instructions, military equipment including an apparent rocket launcher, a homemade pipe bomb and a video depicting the Miller igniting several improvised explosive devices, including one that he referred to as a ‘hand grenade,’ were recovered,” Foley said.
Miller was later convicted in state court of possessing those devices.
According to court records, while still on probation in 2014, the Massachusetts Radiation Control Program issued a cease-and-desist letter to Miller after discovering he was selling depleted uranium on eBay.
Despite Miller’s claims that he had ceased such activity, he allegedly launched his own online business called “Collect the Periodic Table” in 2017, through which he marketed and sold radioactive materials, including Plutonium-239 allegedly derived from Cold War-era Soviet smoke detectors, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege that between June and October 2023, Miller conducted at least five PayPal transactions for the sale of plutonium. Additional records of plutonium sales were allegedly recovered from his home during the 2025 search.
In 2023, Miller allegedly directed an associate to purchase five pounds of hazardous black powder and have it shipped to his home in Hadley, prosecutors said. Witnesses allegedly reported that Miller used the powder to ignite a fireball and detonate a dishwasher in his backyard during gatherings at his residence.
During the April 2025 search, remnants of the shipment, including multiple bottles of explosive powder, one of which had been opened, were found.
According to court records, authorities cataloged and secured numerous other potentially hazardous substances found at Miller’s residence – including fuels, alkali metals, oxidizers, acids and toxic elements such as arsenic.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection “warned that these substances posed a serious risk to occupants, first responders and the public in the event of a fire, accident, or natural disaster,” prosecutors said.
The court has since ordered that MassDEP conduct a comprehensive safety evaluation and oversee the removal of hazardous materials from the home.
According to the charging documents, on Feb. 9, 2004, Miller was convicted in Hampshire Superior Court of one count of possession of child pornography and sentenced to seven years of probation.
Miller was also convicted in a separate case in Hampshire Superior Court of two counts of possession of an explosive device and sentenced to two and one-half years in jail and 10 years of probation.
As a result of those convictions, Miller is prohibited under federal law from possessing ammunition, firearms and explosives.
If convicted on the charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition and explosives, Miller faces a sentence of 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Hadley is a small town in western Massachusetts, west of Amherst. The town’s population was 5,325 at the 2020 census.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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