Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 266
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, § 102 (2026)

Possession or control of incendiary device or material; possession of hoax device or material; penalty

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 102. (a) Whoever, without lawful authority, has in his possession or under his control:

(i) any substance, material, article, explosive or ingredient which, alone or in combination, could be used to make a destructive or incendiary device or substance and who intends to make a destructive or incendiary device or substance; or

(ii) any substance, material, article, explosive or ingredient which, alone or in combination, could be used to make a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon and who intends to make a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 and one-half years or in state prison for not less than 5 years nor more than 10 years or by a fine of not more than $25,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. It shall not be a defense to a violation of this subsection that the defendant did not possess or have under his control every substance, material, article, explosive or ingredient, or combination thereof, required to make a complete and functional destructive or incendiary device or substance or chemical, biological or nuclear weapon.

(b) Whoever, without lawful authority, has in his possession or uses or places, or causes another to knowingly or unknowingly possess, use or place, any hoax explosive, hoax destructive or incendiary device or substance or any hoax chemical, biological or nuclear weapon, with the intent that such hoax explosive, device or substance or weapon be used to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort to any person or group of persons, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 and one-half years or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(c) Whoever, without lawful authority, has in his possession or under his control any explosive or any destructive or incendiary device or substance shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 2 and one-half years in the house of correction or for not less than 10 years nor more than 20 years in the state prison or by a fine of not more than $25,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1984–2024 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Aldana, 477 Mass. 790 (Mass. 2017).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Commonwealth v. Aldana, 477 Mass. 790 (Mass. 2017). · cites it 10× “The defendant thereafter was indicted on two charges of possession of the ingredients to make an incendiary device or substance with the intent to do so, in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 102 (a), and a single charge of possession of an incendiary device or substance, in violation…”
Commonwealth v. Arriaga, 691 N.E.2d 585 (Mass. App. Ct. 1998). “266, § 102A, and the wilful throwing of explosives at or near persons or property, G. L. c. 266, § 102, where former is lesser included offense of latter).”
Commonwealth v. Hammond, 736 N.E.2d 398 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000). · cites it 2× “266, § 101); and (2) throwing an explosive device with intent to damage property or injure a person (G. L. c. 266, § 102). 1 He was acquitted of a charge of mayhem.”
Commonwealth v. DeCicco, 744 N.E.2d 95 (Mass. App. Ct. 2001). “266, § 102B; and possession of an explosive device with intent to destroy or damage property, G. L. c. 266, § 102. The dissent finds sufficient basis in the ultimate disposition of Madden’s case “to infer the secret existence of at least a tacit plea arrangement at the time of…”
Commonwealth v. DeCillis, 669 N.E.2d 1087 (Mass. App. Ct. 1996). “Wilfully throwing or placing an explosive with intent to destroy or damage property (G. L. c. 266, § 102), indictment nos. 93-0254-2 and 93-0254-3); possession of an infernal device (G.”
Commonwealth v. Poor, 467 N.E.2d 877 (Mass. App. Ct. 1984). “A jury found them guilty of willfully throwing or placing explosives at or near persons or property (G. L. c. 266, § 102), and interference with the civil rights of persons (G.”
Marc Aldana v. Commonwealth. (Mass. App. Ct. 2024). · cites it 4× “258D after the Supreme Judicial Court vacated his convictions for two counts of possession of a destructive or incendiary device or substance without lawful authority, G. L. c. 266, § 102 (a) (incendiary device charges).”
Commonwealth v. Christopher Regan (Mass. Super. Ct. 2020). “He has moved to suppress contraband and other items seized by the Beverly Police Department ("BPD") and the Massachusetts State Police ("MSP") on June 29, 2018, from a rental commercial van parked in a condominium complex in Beverly. On November 18, 2020, the Court conducted an…”
Hammond v. VERDINI, 377 F. Supp. 2d 296 (D. Mass. 2005). “Thus, the petitioner asserts that the appeals court’s decision' — • upholding the convictions under Mass. Gen. L. c. 266, § 102 (hereinafter, “ § 102”) and Mass.”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, § 102(c) — 1 case
Commonwealth v. Christopher Regan (Mass. Super. Ct. 2020). “He has moved to suppress contraband and other items seized by the Beverly Police Department ("BPD") and the Massachusetts State Police ("MSP") on June 29, 2018, from a rental commercial van parked in a condominium complex in Beverly. On November 18, 2020, the Court conducted an…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.