Man pleads guilty to Palm Springs pipe bomb charges

A Desert Hot Springs man who left pipe bombs near his ex-girlfriend’s house plead guilty to explosives charges on Monday morning.

Edward Allen Costa, 49, faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison for possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to the United States Attorney’s Office of Los Angeles.

The guilty plea stems from a 2013 indictment for possessing six pipe bombs that were left in a Palm Springs from May 8 through May 12 of 2012.

Six crude bombs were found scattered in Palm Springs neighborhoods but they didn’t go off. Authorities say Costa recently had broken up with his girlfriend and one bomb was found near her home.

Before being indicted for the pipe bombs, officials said Costa was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a .357-magnum revolver, as well as 106 rounds of ammunition.

In August of 2013, Costa walked away from a halfway house in Rubidoux while completing a one-year sentence for the gun charges. He was indicted on the pipe bomb charges while he was an escaped fugitive.

The Banning Police Department and the FBI caught up to Costa in November and he was taken into custody once again.