A 37-year-old Denville man is facing federal charges after investigators say he kept a home explosives laboratory and a stockpile of explosive materials inside his house.
Joseph Rizos was charged by complaint with one count of unlawful receipt of explosive materials, one count of unlawful storage of explosive material, and one count of unlawful possession of plastic explosives without a detection agent. U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced the charges on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026.
Rizos made his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court on Aug. 26, 2026, and was ordered detained.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Rizos purchased and received explosive materials and related items from online retailers between roughly April 2020 and June 2026, including fuels, fuses, precursor chemicals and laboratory equipment, and stored them illegally at his Denville residence.
Law enforcement searched the home on June 24, 2026, and recovered a sophisticated home laboratory and laboratory equipment from the bedroom, basement and garage, along with numerous detailed documents for manufacturing multiple types of explosives and a wide variety of suspected industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals that can be used to make explosives. Investigators also recovered containers of suspected explosives from the bedroom.
Two of the three counts each carry a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The unlawful storage count carries a maximum of one year and a $100,000 fine.
The investigation was handled by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Newark Field Division, the New Jersey State Police, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.
Related: Denville Police Report Five Arrests Between Aug. 8 and Aug. 19
Charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
