A man who blew off his fingers while toying with bombs in Rico faces a federal indictment on explosives charges.
A grand jury indicted Douglas Markey, 58, on charges related to transporting explosives. The details of the indictment was not released to the public or press as of Friday.
Markey lost fingers and caused an evacuation in Rico on July 14, 2011, when a bomb he made went off. He caused alarm in the town when he drove his pickup to a Rico gas station and stumbled out of the cab, his arm bloody. He was taken by helicopter to Mercy Regional Medical Center.
Authorities closed State Highway 145 through Rico for several hours while a bomb squad robot from Farmington named Woody searched his truck.
It is unknown why it has taken so long to file a case, but Markey has been in trouble with the law in Albuquerque during the last year.
He is currently facing federal charges for possessing a firearm despite being a felon.
An agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives caught Markey with a gun in June 2012 while investigating a complaint by a woman who said Markey burned her by turning her stun gun into a firebomb.
The woman said Markey had been using her for money, according to an affidavit by ATF Special Agent Ruben Chavez. Markey told her he was an electrician who could fix her Taser.
She found the Taser on her front step one morning in a plastic Wal-Mart bag. When she pressed the button to test it, the stun gun burst into flames and burned her left hand.
Markey had a prior felony conviction on explosives charges from Dolores County in April 2000. He served three years on probation.
joeh@cortezjournal.com