Flier with fireworks gets house arrest at Mom’s

A Northeast Pennsylvania man arrested last week at Philadelphia International Airport for attempting to carry fireworks onto a plane was released on bail Tuesday.

U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Hey released Joseph A. Picklo, 29, of Dallas, on $25,000 personal-recognizance bail and 24-hour house arrest with an ankle bracelet at his mother's residence in Bridesburg.

Hey said Picklo tested positive for an unspecified substance and was also ordered to undergo drug testing by Pre-Trial Services.

If approved in advance by Pre-Trial Services, Picklo, a musician who plays guitar and piano, would also be permitted to leave his mother's home for musical gigs for specified hours in the evening.

Picklo was stopped by a TSA screener at Philadelphia International Airport on March 29 around 6 a.m. as he attempted to carry what authorities said was an explosive device on to a plane bound for San Francisco.

Picklo was later arrested by Philadelphia police and subsequently transferred to federal custody.

An arrest affidavit said authorities found two large firecrackers, a plastic bottle wrapped in electrical tape and partially filled with a powdery mixture, and a test tube filled with another powdery substance, which also included a wick, in Picklo's backpack.

Federal prosecutors have about three weeks to decide whether to indict Picklo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Wzorek said prosecutors were trying to determine if Picklo had criminal intent or his actions were an innocent oversight.

Wzorek declined comment on what, if anything, forensic experts found during an analysis of the powdery substances discovered in his backpack.