A St. Joseph man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to setting off an explosive device on the front porch of a home on the Parkway, in what he called a drunken mistake and a prank.

As previously reported, that prank caused at least $22,000 and up to $32,000 damage to the home at 2402 NE Parkway.  Edward Catron, 20, pleaded guilty to a class-e felony count of knowingly exploding.  During the plea hearing Wednesday, Dowlen called it a “drunken mistake…intended to be a prank.” He said he had no intention to do that much damage.

Catron told Circuit Judge Patrick Robb he placed a “highly explosive firework” between the screen door and the main door, lit the fuse, and ran off. Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins wanted to make sure the judge was aware that these weren’t Black Cats. Investigators believe Catron went online to purchase a recipe and some potassium perchlorate, a volatile, rapid oxidizer, to make the bomb.

Catron faces up to four years in prison when he’s sentenced on September 11 at 3pm.