Daniel Musso, age 56, of Brentwood, was found guilty on Friday of four counts of receiving and possessing unregistered firearms (fragmentation grenades) and one count of receiving explosive material after a week-long federal jury trial, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today. According to the evidence presented during the trial, beginning in the summer of 2015, Musso engaged in a series of efforts to obtain ammunition and military weapons and explosives, including military hand grenades. After Musso told a firearms dealer about his desire to obtain these items, the FBI arranged for Musso to be introduced to an undercover agent who told Musso that he could obtain illegal hand grenades. During two meetings with the undercover agent in January 2016, Musso reiterated his desire to obtain hand grenades and other illegal military weapons and explosives. Musso explained that he was part of a group that was seeking to bring forth the “original constitution” and that he and his associates were seeking to obtain military weapons and explosives to “take our country back.” Musso was arrested on January 27, 2016, after he purchased four military hand grenades from the undercover agent in Seabrook. Hand grenades are destructive devices that are unlawful to possess unless they are registered under the National Firearms Act. Musso previously argued that the grenades were not destructive devices because the FBI had made their fuses inoperable for safety purposes in the undercover operation. Although a district judge initially agreed with Musso, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed that decision, clearing the way for this matter to be tried by a jury. Musso was taken into custody after the verdict. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

via justice.gov: Military Hand Grenades in First Federal Jury Trial in New Hampshire Since the Covid-19 Pandemic Began