Whitehall man who threatened to 'blow up' Treasury Dept., attack CIA pleads guilty to explosives charges

A Whitehall man who made threats online to blow up government buildings in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. using homemade bombs has pleaded guilty to gun and explosives charges.

Kurt Cofano, 32, was convicted of three counts of five counts brought by a grand jury indictment in connection to his arrest last summer, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said Wednesday.

Cofano faces a maximum possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000, according to Kaufman.

Cofano, who had been wanted by Whitehall police on a mental health warrant, was caught with dozens of guns and homemade bombs in his car and home — including 14 grenades, nine M-80-type homemade firecrackers and a rocket launcher.

According to a criminal complaint, Cofano said online that he wanted to “blow up” the Treasury Department in Harrisburg and “go to the CIA headquarters in (Washington) DC and take out as many (expletives) as I can before I get gunned down.”

On July 9 of last year, Mt. Lebanon police officers pulled over Cofano in his white Mercedes-Benz. Authorities said there were guns in the car along with supplies to make “M-80 type fireworks.”

Investigators found chemicals used for making explosives, homemade explosives, homemade detonators, homemade grenade tubes, modified training grenades and marijuana.

After Cofano’s arrest, Mike Christman, the special agent in charge at the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, called Cofano “a very real threat.”

“A mix of unstable, homemade manufactured explosives, large amounts of ammo and a person who has already made threats to inflect harm is an extremely dangerous combination,” Christman said.

Mt. Lebanon police originally charged Cofano with having weapons of mass destruction, possession of explosives, prohibited offensive weapons and other weapons charges. Whitehall police followed by filing charges of risking a catastrophe, weapons of mass destruction, possession of an explosive and making terroristic threats.

Cofano will be detained until his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.