Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Dustin T. Baker, 27, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for distribution of methamphetamine, possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and willfully making a threat involving explosives materials. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Baker to imprisonment for a term of 71 months, to be followed by a mandatory consecutive 60-month term of imprisonment resulting from his conviction for the firearms offense. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release. 

Baker placed an explosive device on the hood of a Chevy Tahoe that belonged his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend (victim). Baker called the victim approximately 11 times between 1:22 a.m. and 4:28 a.m. during the early hours of August 26, 2021. During the calls, Baker threatened the victim and threatened to blow up his car. 

On the morning of August 27, 2021, investigators located Baker outside of his residence on Ruggles Street in Omaha. Two other persons were also present at the residence. Baker consented to a search of his house and investigators found methamphetamine, a gun, and ammunition. The gun was later determined to have been stolen. Baker admitted he had a firearm in his house and admitted to placing the device on the Tahoe. Police arrested Baker. 

A quantity of methamphetamine was recovered from Baker’s bedroom and from one of the two additional persons present at Baker’s house when investigators arrived on August 27, 2021. That person told investigators that she purchased the methamphetamine on her person from Baker when she arrived at his residence a few hours earlier. She further stated on August 26, 2021, she and another party gave Baker a ride, dropping him off at a specific location (near the victim’s residence) and picked him up two hours later when he messaged her to park at “something and Elm”. She said she felt the concussion from a loud explosion at that location and that when Baker returned, he commented, “That’s what happens when you don’t pay me my money or mess with me.” 

On August 30, 2021, after Baker was arrested, he made a jail call to his mother and told her the police didn’t find all of the devices he used at the victim’s residence. Baker asked his mother to tell another party to retrieve it from his sock drawer. Investigators were able to obtain a search warrant and seized the second device. 

This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. 

This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department and by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.