A Santa Maria man has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges tied to the bombing that took place at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in Santa Maria in 2024.
According to the Department of Justice, 22-year-old Nathaniel James McGuire pleaded guilty to one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of malicious destruction of a building using an explosive.
McGuire's plea agreement states that on September 24, 2024, McGuire intentionally detonated a bomb in the Santa Maria courthouse with the intent to kill Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Deputies after law enforcement officers seized his firearms earlier that year.
On the day of the attack, McGuire threw a backpack containing one explosive device past the courthouse's security screening, where it then detonated outside a courtroom and injured three people.
In the plea, McGuire also admitted that he left the courthouse following the explosion to retrieve two long guns and 10 Molotov cocktails from his vehicle. He then intended to re-enter the courthouse to kill sheriff’s deputies and a judge; however, McGuire was stopped by law enforcement officers at his vehicle.
McGuire also admitted to maliciously damaging the courthouse, which sustained approximately $35,000 in damage.
A sentencing hearing for McGuire is scheduled for March 1, 2027, at which time he will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
