A Corpus Christi man has been sentenced to a 15-year prison term after being convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon and having unregistered destructive devices, namely pipe bombs. 36-year-old Robert Spencer was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 6, 2024, following a three-day trial, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case against Spencer took a significant turn when U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos decided to impose the 180-month sentence, which will be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. During the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that the firearm found in Spencer's possession was linked to a murder earlier on the same day of his arrest. Spencer now awaits transfer to an unspecified U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
An incident on Aug. 3, 2022, is what initially brought Spencer into the crosshairs of law enforcement. When officers responded to a report of gunfire at Nueces and Van Loan Avenue, Spencer reportedly fled into his home and engaged in an hour-long standoff with the police, during which two gunshots were heard. Even though he was unarmed upon exiting his home, a subsequent search of his residence led to the discovery of a rifle outside his home and more firearms in the attic, along with boxes of ammunition and six pipe bombs.
Spencer, who is legally prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition due to his status as a convicted felon, admitted that he assembled the pipe bombs himself. The defense attempted to argue that Spencer was unaware of the firearms in his attic and that the pipe bombs were not operational. Their claims were dismissed by the jury, as evidenced by the guilty verdict. Testing later confirmed that the pipe bombs met the legal definition of destructive devices and they were not registered to Spencer in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by law.
The investigation that led to Spencer's conviction was a collaborative effort between the Corpus Christi Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Overman and Ashley Martin handled the prosecution of the case.
