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U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger announced the move on Jan. 23 while sharing new details about last summer's arrest.
Jeremy Giliberti, 52, of Mount Laurel, was stopped by Hamilton Township police in the parking lot of a T-Mobile store on South Broad Street shortly before 11 a.m. last July 26.
On the floorboard of the front passenger seat of Giliberti's green Honda was a duffle bag that contained four improvised pipe bombs, the officers reported at the time.
"Two of the devices were encased in 5-inch steel pipes and two of the devices were encased in cardboard tubing wrapped in duct tape," Sellinger revealed.
"All four of the devices contained numerous metal pellets, an explosive mixture, and a pyrotechnic fuse," the U.S. attorney said.
The officers took Giliberti into custody, shut down a stretch of South Broad Street and evacuated area businesses and residences as a precaution.
A New Jersey State Police Bomb Unit collected and destroyed the four devices, as well as a fifth that authorities said they found at Giliberti's home.
Giliberti, who had a prior history of petty offenses, was charged with possession of a destructive device and sent to the Mercer County Correctional Facility to await prosecution.
Jurisdiction has since shifted to the federal government, Sellinger revealed on Tuesday.
Special agents with the Newark Field Division of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are now heading the investigation assisted by township police, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office and the NJSP Bomb Unit, the U.S. attorney announced.
A federal magistrate judge in Trenton ordered Giliberti held on Tuesday pending further court action.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Agnew of Sellinger's office in Trenton is handling the case for the government.
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