A federal trial for the man accused of setting off explosives in the Santa Maria Court Complex in 2024 has been delayed again, but a possible plea deal may be in the works.
The trial in a Los Angeles federal courtroom for Nathaniel James McGuire, 21, now has been scheduled for Sept. 22, after a delay from the previously planned April 7 start.
McGuire faces three charges after a federal grand jury handed down an indictment that charged him with using a weapon of mass destruction, maliciously damaging a building by means of explosive, and possessing unregistered destructive devices, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On the morning of Sept. 25, 2024, McGuire showed up at the court complex for a case stemming from a weapons-related charge he received in the summer.
He entered the building and threw a bag into the lobby. The bag exploded, and McGuire ran away. The explosion injured at least five people who were near the bomb when it went off.
Quick-acting court security staff and law enforcement officers detained McGuire at his red Ford Mustang in the parking lot.
McGuire allegedly yelled that the government had taken his guns and that everyone needed to fight, rise up and rebel.
Later searches of his vehicle turned up ammunition, a flare gun, a box of fireworks, a shotgun, a rifle, a suspected bomb and 10 Molotov cocktails.
A mid-April filing by McGuire’s attorney, Katherine McBroom, asked the judge to order federal probation officers to prepare a pre-plea report.
She sought the report that will assess the defendant’s criminal history “so that I may properly advise my client as to his potential exposure to prison time,” McBroom wrote.
The assessment can be used to determine whether to accept a plea agreement to avoid a longer prison sentence.
Prior trial dates were tentatively set for December 2024 and September 2025 before being reset for April and then September of this year.
In a court document for the new delay, the defense attorney repeated concerns cited for a prior trial postponement, including a federal funding lapse under the Criminal Justice Act between July and November 2025. That funding gap interfered with the hiring of experts and investigators to build the defense, McBroom added.
The defense attorney also mentioned a possible need for mental competency proceedings.
“Defense counsel represents that failure to grant the continuance would deny them reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence,” McBroom wrote.
In addition, McGuire, acting as his own attorney, apparently tried to file a motion asking for the dismissal of one charge, but court officials deemed the document deficient.
At the judge’s order to either fix or withdraw the motion, the defense attorney said McGuire agreed not to proceed with the request.
Attorneys have estimated that a trial would last four or five days.
McGuire remains in federal custody but has been moved from the Central Valley Annex in McFarland to the California City Detention Facility, both in Kern County.