Fmr. Chesco man pleads guilty to making IED’s

A former resident of Chester County pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to making pipe bombs.

Ryan Joseph Hribick, who lives in Minersville, Schuykill County, but is formerly a Coatesville resident, was charged after federal agents raided a storage locker in Frazer, Pa. in March 2013. There they found 400 pipe bombs made of cardboard tubes and 60 made from PVC pipe.

Those storage lockers were rented by Istvan Merchenthaler, who, at the time of the raid, was running from federal authorities in connection with $7 million Ponzi scheme.

Merchentaler, who goes by the name “Joey Gallow” and “Adien A. Donis” (get it?) pleaded guilty in October to a wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and interstate transportation of stolen goods in relation to the Ponzi scheme.

He also plead guilty to weapons charges related to the pipe bombs, court docs say. He has not been sentenced.

Hribick also pleaded guilty to witness tampering and asking a witness to destroy bomb-making materials stored at the witness’s house, according to prosecutors.

He faces 60 years in prison, a $1 million fine and 3 years of probation.