A 32-year-old Medford man accused of throwing firearms at his ex-girlfriend during a breakup in February is now headed to federal trial this month, after prosecutors say the case escalated into a truck bombing outside her Ashland home. Michael Scott Beugli appeared in federal court in Medford on August 31 to be arraigned on a superseding indictment adding charges for possessing unregistered firearm silencers and an unregistered destructive device, on top of an earlier felon-in-possession charge. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
According to the ATF Seattle field division, which covers Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and the U.S. Pacific territories, a federal grand jury in Medford indicted Beugli for possessing firearms while being a convicted felon after a witness saw him throwing firearms out of his residence in February. Law enforcement located nine guns at Beugli's residence that month, along with additional homemade silencers, and Beugli fled the area before being tracked down. Investigators later revealed that Beugli's ex-partner told them he had personally modified the firearms at his home using parts purchased online, according to Rogue Valley Times.
A Breakup Call to 911 Set Off the Investigation
Federal court documents reviewed by Law & Crime show the initial February 24 incident began when the mother of Beugli's ex-girlfriend called 911 after seeing Beugli throw firearms at her daughter, who was trying to collect her belongings and end their 10-year relationship. Dispatcher logs from that call noted yelling in the background, and Beugli allegedly threw a rock at the victim during the confrontation, per the same account. ATF Seattle's post states that Beugli sent threatening messages to the witness the following month, in March.
The dispute did not end there. Before dawn on March 25, at 4:43 a.m., Ashland police, fire and Talent officers responded to the 300 block of Morton Street after an explosive device detonated inside an unoccupied truck belonging to Beugli's ex-girlfriend, shattering a window and prompting a neighborhood shelter-in-place order, the Rogue Valley Times reported. Bomb technicians from Oregon State Police were called in to check for a potential secondary device.
Arrest Turned Up Matching Explosive Materials
Ashland Police arrested Beugli later that same day at a home in the 100 block of Fork Street on outstanding warrants, and federal officials found explosive materials and devices similar to the one detonated in the victim's truck, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time of his arrest, Jackson County Jail records showed Beugli was already wanted for failure to appear on underlying charges of harassment and unlawful possession of methamphetamine, and he was booked into the jail without bail.
Following the arrest, Jackson County prosecutors charged Beugli in state court with 12 counts, including first- and second-degree arson, unlawful manufacture and possession of a destructive device, weapons offenses and domestic violence crimes. He pleaded not guilty to those state charges on March 26. It remains an open question how the state and federal cases will be sequenced, and whether the state arson charges will proceed alongside the federal destructive device counts.
Six Agencies, One Federal Trial Date
The investigation drew in six coordinating agencies, including the ATF, FBI, Oregon State Police, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Medford Police Department and Ashland Police Department, reflecting the multi-jurisdictional response required once explosives entered a domestic violence case tied to the Justice Department's Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Under the National Firearms Act, firearm silencers and destructive devices must be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record maintained by the ATF, making unregistered possession a federal felony; prosecutors say Beugli had failed to register any of his devices.
Beugli's federal jury trial in Medford is scheduled to begin on September 28. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, per the Rogue Valley Times. The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara T. Shaw.
