BILLINGS — A Wyoming man has pleaded not guilty in the theft of 559 pounds of explosives from a government bunker near Red Lodge.
Budd James Nesius of Wheatland is charged with possession of stolen explosives. He entered his not-guilty plea Monday during a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Billings.
Officials discovered in April that the explosives were missing from the U.S. Forest Service bunker.
In November, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced it had recovered all of the explosives, but did not provide further details.
Nesius was arrested and charged in February.
After Monday’s hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby remanded the 32-year-old Nesius to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.