Massachusetts Felon Pleads Guilty to Mailing Russian Plutonium to 67 Buyers for Over Four Years

Jacob D. Miller, 44, of South Hadley, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty Monday to five federal counts, including importing nuclear material without lawful authority, mailing hazardous materials, and possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. His pleas were filed last Thursday under an agreement with prosecutors, NBC News reported.

Miller also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition and being a felon in possession of explosive materials. He was arrested on April 9, 2025, and indicted by a federal grand jury eight days later. He has remained in federal custody since.

A business selling the periodic table, including plutonium

After a prior stint in prison, Miller started a company called Collect The Periodic Table, selling samples of chemical elements to collectors, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He sold through his own site and through a third-party online marketplace, Bonanza.

Prosecutors said Miller imported plutonium from Russia and had it mailed directly to his Massachusetts residence. Between December 30, 2020, and March 31, 2025, he sold plutonium to roughly 67 customers in the U.S. and abroad, shipping it through the U.S. mail despite plutonium being barred from postal shipment, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

He also sold thallium, a highly toxic metal, to about 71 customers between October 12, 2017, and April 5, 2025, again mailing it illegally, prosecutors said.

NBC News reported that the state of Massachusetts had warned Miller at some point after his release from prison about an alleged sale of depleted uranium on eBay, a detail authorities disclosed in an April 2025 statement. That warning apparently did not stop his broader element-selling operation.

A felony record that should have barred the guns and explosives

Miller was convicted in Massachusetts state court on February 9, 2004, of possessing child pornography and possessing an explosive device, according to federal prosecutors. He received seven years of probation on the child pornography count and was sentenced to two and a half years in jail plus ten years of probation on two explosive device counts.

NBC News reported that a 2002 search of his residence had turned up what investigators described as an apparent rocket launcher, a pipe bomb, and video of Miller detonating improvised explosive devices.

That record made it illegal for Miller to possess firearms, ammunition, or explosives going forward. Federal agents searched his home again in April 2025 and recovered a box of explosive powder bottles, numerous rounds of ammunition, and six firearms, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said all of it was unlawfully possessed given his 2004 felony convictions.

Child sexual abuse material found on his devices

Investigators also found child sexual abuse material on Miller's laptop and cell phone, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, material prosecutors say he had accessed the day before the search warrant was executed in April 2025.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 21, 2027, in U.S. District Court. Ground News reported Miller faces up to 36 years in prison based on the combined charges.

What the coverage leaves out

Most outlets that picked up this story, including Fox News, WFMD, and 10BM News, ran near-identical versions of the Department of Justice's own account almost word for word, without independently examining how a felon with a documented 2004 explosives conviction was able to import radioactive material from Russia and ship it through the Postal Service to 67 buyers over more than four years without detection. None of the available reporting, including NBC News's account, addresses what postal inspection or customs screening, if any, existed for packages labeled as containing radioactive isotopes, or why the earlier state warning about depleted uranium sales did not trigger a federal response sooner.

A convicted felon barred by law from owning a shotgun was legally allowed, in practice, to import plutonium from a foreign adversary nation and mail it across state lines and international borders for years. No public explanation has emerged for what triggered the arrest in 2025, and no source has detailed whether any of the 67 plutonium buyers or 71 thallium buyers face scrutiny themselves. Those questions remain open heading into Miller's January 2027 sentencing.