MASON, Ohio —

A 21-year-old Mason man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to a felony charge of

illegally transporting explosive materials. Advertisement

James Phillips, 21, was arrested in April by the FBI after agents executed search warrants at his parents' home on Sentinel Oak Drive in Mason as well as locations in Oxford and Liberty Township.

Investigators said at the time that Phillips spent 13 months building explosive devices in a shed behind the home and then transported them to parks, including the Lebanon soccer complex, to detonate them.

Phillips' attorney, Scott Croswell, has maintained that this was a hobby for Phillips, who had an interest in chemistry, influenced by his chemist parents.

"Look, a condition of his plea is that he not engage in this type of conduc

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