Thursday, July 10, 2025
A North Merrick man pleaded guilty last week to a series of charges related to an attempted bombing at the Nassau County Department of Social Services in September 2024, as well as multiple unrelated crimes involving fraud, forgery, and identity theft, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced.
James Luca, 47, admitted in Nassau County Court to attempting to ignite an explosive device at the social services building on Charles Lindbergh Boulevard in East Meadow. He pleaded guilty before Judge Terence Murphy to first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a B violent felony, and obstruction of governmental duties by means of a bomb or hazardous substance, a D felony.
Luca also pleaded guilty to an array of additional charges in separate cases, including a second count of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second- and third-degree residential mortgage fraud, two counts each of second-degree forgery and criminal possession of a forged instrument, four counts of first-degree identity theft, two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, and four counts of first-degree scheme to defraud.
He is expected to be sentenced on July 8 to nine years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.
“This defendant is dangerous and unpredictable, instigating fear and terror in his personal life and attempting to sow that same terror when he targeted the dedicated public servants at the Nassau County Department of Social Services with an explosive device,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Now, he faces nearly a decade in prison. Our communities will be safer with him off our streets.”
According to prosecutors, around 1:42 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2024, Luca left his Van Nostrand Avenue home in North Merrick and met with a co-defendant. The pair drove to the NCDSS building, where Luca placed a 20-pound propane tank and a smaller camping tank at the building’s entrance, topped with a torch. Surveillance footage showed Luca attempting to ignite the homemade bomb by throwing lit flares at it, but the device failed to detonate.
Authorities said the men returned to East Meadow and switched vehicles before heading back to Luca’s home. Later that morning, the NCDSS director of investigations discovered the device and alerted police. The Nassau County Police Department’s Arson and Bomb Squad, the Uniondale Fire Department, and the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s Office evacuated the building and secured the scene. A second 20-pound propane tank and road flares were later recovered nearby.
Luca and his co-defendant were arrested Oct. 3, 2024.
In a separate case, Luca admitted to placing an explosive device on his ex-wife’s car in February 2023 and detonating it, shattering her windshield. He caused further damage to her vehicle in a separate incident in January 2024.
Luca also pleaded guilty to defrauding a relative by forging loan documents and a deed to transfer property ownership. He obtained a $410,000 mortgage on the home, which ultimately went into foreclosure due to nonpayment, leaving the relative with more than $600,000 in debt. He further used the same relative’s identity to open personal and business credit cards with American Express, accruing more than $200,000 in unpaid charges. In another scheme, Luca impersonated a different relative to open utility accounts at three East Meadow properties, including his own.
The attempted bombing case is being prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Lee Genser of the Narcotics, Firearms and Gangs Bureau.
