Brooklyn —

As Robert Lopez tells it, his trouble began nearly two years ago when he plucked a bundle of fake dynamite from the trash and took it to his St. Felix Street home with plans to turn the fake bomb into a piggy bank.

Now Mr. Lopez, 38, a career maintenance man with no criminal record beyond a 10-year-old marijuana violation, is set to appear in court on false-bomb charges that could put him in prison for up to four years.

“On 9/11, from my roof of my building I could see the top of the towers smoking,” Mr. Lopez said in tears. “I’m not that kind of a person. I’m not a terrorist. I wouldn’t hurt nobody like that. Never.”

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TNT TROUBLE: Robert Lopez describes how his dynamite discovery all but destroyed his life.