Homemade bombs targeted homes in Merced, Lemoore. Maker gets 10-year fed prison sentence

A Merced man has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for making bombs that he used to retaliate against three intended victims in Merced and Lemoore, federal prosecutors said.

The office of U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced Monday that 53-year-old Wes Parker McDaniel was sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison for using explosives to destroy property and manufacturing bombs.

McDaniel pleaded guilty to felony charges in federal court last year.

Court records show McDaniel made 12 bombs or destructive devices using illegal fireworks he purchased in Nevada, shrapnel, ammunition, fire-starting material and other items between Feb. 1, 2021 and June 22, 2021. McDaniel used six bombs at homes in Merced and one in Lemoore, according to a U.S Department of Justice news release.

The release does not make clear why McDaniel was retaliating against the victims.

McDaniel used three of the bombs on a home where he mistakenly thought one of his targets lived. Authorities said one of those bombs hit a wall of the home and exploded, damaging the wall, destroying a fence and badly burning a propane tank. In other instances, McDaniel placed two bombs near a vehicle of one of the victims, and threw a bomb at the home of a third victim.

Authorities executed a search warrant at McDaniel’s home where they located bomb-making material, boxes of ammunition, a .22 caliber rifle and six bombs. As a convicted felon, McDaniel is prohibited from possessing ammunition, destructive devices and firearms, according to the release.

McDaniel was ordered to pay $2,180 in restitution to cover the loss of the fence, according to the release.