Two Plead Guilty in Connection with Harvard Lab Explosion

Two people have pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to damage a Harvard Medical School building by detonating a large commercial firework inside a fourth-floor research laboratory—an incident that underscores how safety-centric design strategies are critical in protecting research facilities from both accidental and intentional threats.

Two Massachusetts men pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston on April 24 to conspiring to damage a building on Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) campus using a large commercial firework.

Logan David Patterson, 18, of Plymouth, MA and Dominick Frank Cardoza, 21, of Bourne, MA, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to damage, by means of an explosive. US District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencings for August 4, 2026. In November 2025, the defendants were arrested and charged.

At approximately 2:33 am, the defendants were seen climbing over a chain-link fence into a construction area surrounding the Goldenson Building and, minutes later, climbing scaffolding beside the building to access the roof. At approximately 2:45 am, campus police received a fire alarm alert from an explosion on the fourth floor of the Goldenson Building, which houses a research laboratory within HMS’s Department of Neurobiology. It was determined that the defendants detonated a large, commercial firework inside a wooden locker in the fourth-floor research laboratory.

Lab Design News spoke with laboratory safety expert Dan Scungio, MT (ASCP), SLS, CQA (ASQ) soon after this incident about safety-centric design strategies that can be incorporated into the design, construction, and renovation of research facilities to help protect against a range of risks, including accidents, operational hazards, and intentional acts of damage. Read the article here: Unexpected Risks, Planned Solutions: Safety in Lab Design

For the full news story, visit the website for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.