Federal authorities are going to loosen their grip on a local "MacGyver bomb" case, according to Clay County Attorney Michael Houchins.

Seventeen federal felony charges of destruction of letter boxes were originally filed on Saturday, March 8, after a group of teenagers were suspected of planting explosive devices in the mailboxes in and around Spencer. Seven state felony counts of destruction of letter boxes with an explosive device also were filed.

Authorities identified the teenagers as: 15-year-old Justin Alan-Lee Titus of Ruthven, 17-year-old Shawn Robert Molitor of Ruthven, 17-year-old Ryan Joseph Hoffman of Ruthven, 17-year-old Alan Jay Japenga of Ruthven and 15-year-old Chan Wei Li of Ayrshire.

Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow previously said the juveniles and their parents have given them full cooperation. That may have helped reduce the severity of charges filed.

The teenagers will now face state charges of reckless use of an explosive device, a serious misdemeanor, and third-degree criminal mischief, which is an aggravated misdemeanor.

Probation is the likely outcome of the court process, but the aggravated misdemeanor charge carries a sentence of up to two years in prison. The serious misdemeanor charge carries a sentence of up to one year in prison. A court date has not been set.

The 15-year-olds involved will remain in juvenile court, according to Houchins. The county attorney is going to work with the families of the 17-year-olds on a waiver stipulation.

"They'll stay in juvenile court for their probation supervision and then they'll have to do certain things as conditions of their probation -- and we anticipate that to be community service and restitution for damage to the mailboxes," he said. "They'll also have to attend some classes. As long as they do those things that are conditions of probation and stay out of any further trouble, they'll remain as juveniles. If they violate their conditions of probation, or have any further arrests or problems with the law, then they'll automatically be waived to adult court and we'll deal with them there."

Houchins also anticipates criminal mischief charges will be filed against 17-year-old Mark Langner of Ayrshire and 18-year-old Tyler Anderson of Ruthven. They may have had a role in damaging mailboxes with a golf club or baseball bat, but did not plant explosive devices.

A caller alerted the Clay County Sheriff's Office to a mailbox that had been damaged at 8:13 a.m. March 8 in the county. While the officer was en route, several other calls came in, including one from a mail carrier with the United States Post Office.

The calls described mailboxes that were destroyed by possible bombs. In some cases, the explosion simply blew the door of the mailbox open. In other cases, the blast blew the mailbox into pieces.

Authorities learned a mix of common chemicals and aluminum foil were placed inside a plastic bottle to create the MacGyver bombs.

Mail service was halted and authorities brought in a remote-controlled robot to search mailboxes as a precaution. No one was injured.

"I visited with Sheriff Randy Krukow and (Juvenile Probation Officer) Tony Van Helden with regard to this situation and how we should handle it," Houchins said. "I guess some of the things we factored in are, number one, once confronted with the situation, the juveniles and their parents were cooperative with law enforcement, and, number two, they don't have much -- if any -- involvement in the juvenile justice system.

"Number three is: You want to punish them and have them know that what they did was a serious matter, but you don't want to make it so serious that it destroys their future. You need to balance those things when you are dealing with kids of this age. There are going to have some serious consequences for what they did, however, I think if they can do probation and do those things that I think will give them the opportunity to remain as juveniles and not put them into the adult system."

If federal authorities had remained involved, the potential sentences would have been much higher, according to the county attorney.

"It's my understanding that destruction of federal property, which is a federal felony, carries, potentially a three-year sentence," Houchins said. "Then if it involves an explosive device, potentially, there was an additional 10 years."

Houchins said federal officials allowed the state to take over because all of the suspects were local and the county had the resources on hand to help the outcome.

"It was a situation where these juveniles got together and made bad decisions and bad choices and they need to be held accountable for that, but at the same time you don't want to prevent them from going on and being productive members of our community," he said.