Philadelphia man sentenced to nearly 10 years for making illegal 'M-1000 style' explosive devices

PHILADELPHIA - A North Philadelphia man has been sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for making illegal explosives that authorities say were used in multiple attempts to blow up ATMs back in 2020. 

David Perez, 37, was sentenced to 110 months in prison, three years of supervised released, and also ordered to pay more than $100K in restitution for making and illegally possessing the M-1000 style devices. 

Perez had previously pled guilty to making the devices for several years prior to his arrest in June 2021. Authorities say devices ‘consistent with those made by Perez’ were located at ‘numerous post-blast scenes.’ 

Multiple incidents apparently involved attempts to access ATMs with the explosives in the summer and fall of 2020. 

Perez also admitted to using one of the devices on July 4, 2020 in the courtyard of a Philadelphia Elementary School. The blast caused extensive damage to the property, both inside and outside of the school. 

During his arrest, authorities say Perez was in possession of multiple firearms and ‘distribution-level quantities of phencyclidine, or PCP. He was also found to have participated in a bank fraud conspiracy.

He was ordered to pay more than $75K in restitution to the School District of Philadelphia, and more than $43K to Wells Fargo Bank. 

"Perez's Sentencing today should serve as a cautionary tale to others considering producing, possessing, or selling an illegal explosive device," said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C.  Romero. "Detonating powerful explosive devices on the grounds of an elementary school, and possession of firearms and distribution-quantity PCP, all by a convicted felon, is the very definition of a threat to public safety.  The U.S. Attorney's office, with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue these cases relentlessly, and David Perez will spend nearly ten years in federal prison."