A man accused of selling plutonium through an online business he ran from his Massachusetts home has pleaded guilty to serious charges, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Jacob Miller, 44, of South Hadley, imported the nuclear material illegally from Russia to sell via his business, called “Collect the Periodic Table,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said.
Before he started the business, prosecutors said Miller was convicted in 2004 of state charges of possession of child pornography and possession of an explosive device.
Miller has been in federal custody since being arrested and indicted last April. He pleaded guilty to charges of importing nuclear material without lawful authority, being a felon in possession of ammunition, being a felon in possession of explosive materials, mailing hazardous materials and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Through Collect the Periodic Table, prosecutors said Miller sold samples of chemical elements — including plutonium, which is highly radioactive, and thallium, which is extremely toxic.
He allegedly sent plutonium to about 67 customers between 2020 and 2025. Between 2017 and his arrest, he allegedly sold thallium to about 71 customers.
The sales were made directly through his business and via Bonanza, a third-party vendor, according to prosecutors. The materials were sent to customers in the U.S. and other countries.
Authorities said Miller was able to ship plutonium from his home in South Hadley through the U.S. Postal Service despite its mailing being prohibited.
When his home was searched last year, investigators found bottles of explosive powder, as well as ammunition and six rifles, prosecutors said. Miller was barred from having any of these items because of his past felony convictions.
Authorities also found child sex abuse material on his laptop and cellphone, which prosecutors said he had accessed as recently as the day before the search.
After his arrest, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection noted that it was “greatly concerned about potential impacts to public safety. Accidental release, breaking of containers, mixing of incompatible or reactive chemicals and or a fire at the residence pose a serious risk to public safety.”
Prosecutors alleged last year that “Miller has exhibited a long-standing and unlawful obsession with explosives, dangerous chemicals and radioactive substances dating back to at least 2002,” pointing to a search of his previous home in that year that uncovered blasting caps, bomb-making instructions, military equipment including an apparent rocket launcher, and homemade pipe bomb. That 2002 search also recovered a video of Miller igniting several of these types of explosives. This is what led to the state conviction.
In 2014, when Miller was still on probation, the Massachusetts Radiation Control Program issued a cease-and-desist order to him for allegedly selling depleted uranium on eBay, prosecutors said. They said he launched Collect the Periodic Table in 2017 after claiming to have stopped.
The child pornography possession charge after a prior conviction carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison. The sentence for unlawfully importing nuclear material is up to 20 years. The two charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition and explosives are each punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and mailing hazardous material carries a sentence of up to a year in prison.
Each charge is also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000, and he could face up to a life sentence of supervised release for the child pornography possession charge.
Prosecutors did not say when Miller would be sentenced.
This story originally appeared on NBCBoston.com.
