BILLINGS - A Pray man accused of possessing explosives admitted to charges yesterday.
According to a release, Kadin Hawkeye Lewis, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of unregistered destructive devices. Lewis faces a term of imprisonment of 10 years, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release.
Sentencing was set for May 20, 2026. Lewis was detained pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents that on September 19, 2022, law enforcement officers were called to investigate reports of a dead body in a travel trailer near Pray, an unincorporated community in Park County, Montana. Law enforcement arrived at the scene and observed a deceased man in a trailer in which Lewis lived, and it appeared the man had died from a gunshot wound to the top of the head. During an authorized search of the trailer, officers located eight Molotov cocktails, complete with bottles, fuel, and wicks, located in a cabinet. Elsewhere throughout the trailer, law enforcement recovered dozens of empty bottles and rags that could be used to assemble additional Molotov cocktails, as well as several journals and other writings belonging to Lewis. In some of the writings, Lewis discussed a plan to make Molotov cocktails and use them as destructive devices.
The Molotov cocktail evidence was ultimately collected and submitted to the FBI Laboratory. Explosives experts determined the fuel inside the bottles was an ignitable liquid, and when ignited, the assembled bottles, rags, and fuel would function as improvised incendiary devices, commonly known as homemade firebombs or Molotov cocktails. A search of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record found Lewis has never applied for or received permission to possess a destructive device.
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The federal charges stem from a homicide investigation into Lewis. Back in October 2022, he was charged in the death of his mother’s former boyfriend, Casey Anderson.
According to previous reporting by MTN News, Lewis was charged with one count of deliberate homicide after Anderson's body was found in a camper several miles southeast of Emigrant in Park County on Monday, September 19, 2022.
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Lewis turned himself in to the Park County Sheriff’s Office the day Anderson’s body was found. Nearly two years later, in July 2024, the murder case against Lewis was dismissed due to lack of evidence, according to the Park County Attorney’s Office.
As officers investigated the homicide at Lewis’ home, they reportedly found writings on the walls of “racially charged language” and swastikas. They also found journals, where Lewis talked about his admiration for school shooters, and his hopes to commit a similar crime at local hot springs and high schools he attended in Montana. Investigators also found Molotov cocktails.
Meanwhile, the Feds made their case. The federal charges against Lewis include possessing explosives during the commission of a felony, attempted malicious use of fires and explosives, and possession of unregistered destructive devices.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office planned to introduce evidence related to the homicide of Casey Anderson. That would include Lewis’s journal entries and wall writings. But Lewis asked the court to prevent this from happening.
In June, the court granted some of Lewis’s requests to bar the evidence from the homicide. That leaves only Lewis’s journal entries about his intent to commit mass casualties at Chico Hot Springs and high schools in Montana, as well as his admiration for school shooters, to be used.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeff Starnes and Benjamin Hargrove prosecuted the case. The FBI and Park County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.
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