A Park County man who authorities say stockpiled Molotov cocktails and documented plans for a mass casualty attack at Chico Hot Springs has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana, 24-year-old Kadin Hawkeye Lewis of Emigrant pleaded guilty in January 2026 to one count of possession of unregistered destructive devices.
The investigation began Sept. 19, 2022, after law enforcement officers responded to Lewis’ trailer in Pray, Montana. Inside, officers discovered the body of a man, later identified as Casey Anderson, with multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities later obtained a search warrant for the trailer.
During the search, investigators found eight assembled Molotov cocktails stored in a cabinet, along with dozens of empty bottles, rags and other materials that could be used to make additional incendiary devices, according to court documents.
Officials also said officers discovered journals and writings in which Lewis expressed admiration for mass shooters and described plans to attack Chico Hot Springs. Prosecutors said Lewis wrote about using Molotov cocktails and firearms to inflict mass casualties and identified other hot spring resorts across Montana in his writings.
The devices were later analyzed by the FBI Laboratory, where explosives experts determined the bottles contained ignitable liquids that would function as improvised incendiary devices, commonly known as Molotov cocktails.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Starnes. The FBI and Park County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
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.
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.
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