SAN ANTONIO — A convicted felon was sentenced Tuesday to more than 11 years in federal prison for attempting to blow open two San Antonio bank ATMs and illegally possessing firearms and explosives, officials announced Thursday.
Dustin Jay Ammons, 44, was sentenced to 140 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced.
According to court documents, Ammons attempted to destroy ATMs at two San Antonio banks on Sept. 12 and Sept. 26, 2025.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez sentenced Ammons to 120 months for transporting explosives and 140 months for illegally possessing firearms. The sentences will run concurrently, resulting in a total prison term of 140 months.
Fact Checklist
- Defendant: Dustin Jay Ammons, 44
- Residence: San Antonio
- Sentence: 140 months in federal prison
- ATM attacks: Sept. 12 and Sept. 26, 2025
- Result: Neither explosion breached the ATM
- Search date: Dec. 12, 2025
- Evidence seized: PETN, pipe bombs, firearms and ammunition
- Guilty plea: April 30, 2026
- Charges: Transporting explosives without a license and being a felon in possession of a firearm
- Judge: U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez
- Court: U.S. District Court in San Antonio
Surveillance video showed Ammons arriving at the banks in a black Ram 3500 pickup truck. He wore black gloves bearing a skeleton-hand design, a black hooded jacket or sweatshirt, dark blue pants and black-and-white sneakers.
Ammons placed pipe bombs at the ATMs, causing explosions that failed to breach either machine, court records state.
The investigation led agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to Ammons’ home, where they executed a federal search warrant on Dec. 12, 2025.
Agents discovered a homemade explosives laboratory in the garage containing pentaerythritol tetranitrate, commonly known as PETN. They also found several firearms, including a 9 mm short-barreled rifle, magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition throughout the house.
A pipe bomb was found inside Ammons’ vehicle.
A search of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record found no firearms, short-barreled rifles or destructive devices registered to Ammons or his address. Ammons also did not have a federal license or permit allowing him to possess, manufacture, transfer or ship explosive materials such as PETN.
Ammons’ criminal record includes felony convictions for assault-family violence, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of burglary tools and multiple counts of theft and burglary of a building.
He pleaded guilty April 30 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of transporting explosive materials without a license.