DAYTON — A Troy doctor was expected to learn his punishment today for having homemade bombs, but that did not happen.
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Dr. Steven Werling has had his sentencing hearing postponed three times already. In federal court on Wednesday, it started but did not finish.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, both sides discussed whether Werling should serve time behind bars. They clearly disagreed.
“The net caught him, but I’m not sure the net was meant for someone like him,” Jon Paul Rion, Werling’s defense attorney, said.
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Rion insisted his client was simply building small devices for protection should civil law and order ever break down. He also told U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Newman that Werling’s devices did not threaten the community.
That wasn’t how FBI agents handled the April 2024 raid at his home on Barnhart Road in Miami County. News Center 7 was there as they blocked off roads for two full days, brought in SWAT teams, had armed agents patrol the grounds, and called in a handful of bomb squads to examine items found in the home.
Agents also raided a storage unit in Dayton in connection with the investigation.
>> PHOTOS: FBI conducting ‘court-authorized’ investigations in Troy, downtown Dayton
Werling was charged with one felony count of illegally possessing unregistered destructive devices.
Assistant U.S. Prosecuting Attorney Brent Tabacchi told the judge, “making and building bombs is a dangerous business. There are inherently dangerous, especially dangerous when made by amateurs, and could go off at any time.”
Werling’s lawyer said the two devices the government is talking about are smaller than two shotgun shells, with less explosive material than those shotgun shells.
“We have a person with an innocent intent to simply defend his own house,” Rion said.
Prosecutors believe Werling should spend at least two years in prison, but the defense thinks that punishment would not fit the crime.
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, but on the other hand, I don’t think he thought he was breaking some sort of federal law when he was tinkering in his basement,” Rion said.
The second part of Werling’s sentencing is now planned for two weeks from today.
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