Brentwood man building arsenal headed to prison

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U.S. District Court

CONCORD, NH – A Brentwood man who claimed he was starting a militia that was going to “take back” the country when he bought grenades and other deadly military gear is headed to prison.

Daniel Musso, 56, of Brentwood, got 31 months in federal prison for unlawfully possessing fragmentation grenades and explosive material. He was convicted at a trial in August on four counts of receiving and possessing unregistered firearms, for each fragmentation grenades, and one count of receiving explosive material.

Musso’s attorney, Simon Brown, claimed in his sentencing memo seeking a lighter sentence that Musso was not part of any militia or group, but he had been going through a period of heavy drinking and was not thinking clearly. Brown wrote that Musso got upset by the news when he decided to buy the grenades.

“Mr. Musso was drinking alcohol to excess, both during the day and at night, was unduly influenced by current events and matters he read on the internet, and he was not thinking logically,” Brown wrote.

Brown said that while Musso planned to start his own group, no such group ever materialized.

U.S. Attorney Scott Murray said in a statement that according to the evidence presented during the trial, Musso engaged in a series of efforts to obtain ammunition and military weapons and explosives, including military hand grenades, starting in the summer of 2015. He went shopping and told a gun shop owner about his plans, and that’s when the FBI was alerted, Murray said.

“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,” Murray wrote.

Musso told the FBI informant that he wanted the hand grenades and other illegal military weapons and explosives for the group he wanted to start, according to Murray.

Musso was recorded saying that he reportedly said 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,” according to Murray. According to court records, Musso told the informant that he was worried about the government discovering the group’s efforts.

“That is why I need some of this stuff,” he reportedly said.

In January of 2016, Musso bought the four hand grenades from an undercover FBI agent, and was arrested.

“The defendant’s troubling scheme to obtain hand grenades could have resulted in a horrifying act of violence,” Murray said.

Musso is also ordered to pay a $7,500 fine as part of the sentence.

About this Author

Damien Fisher

Damien Fisher is a freelance reporter and publisher of NHReporter.com