Bourne, Plymouth men plead guilty to Halloween fireworks conspiracy

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Two Massachusetts men have pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to using a commercial firework on Halloween night to damage a Harvard Medical School building, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Dominick Frank Cardoza, 21, of Bourne, and Logan David Patterson, 18, of Plymouth, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to damage, by means of an explosive. Sentencings are scheduled for Aug. 4, according to the release.

Surveillance camera images captured two men on Nov. 1, 2025, at 2:23 a.m. walking in the vicinity of Harvard Medical School campus and minutes later lighting what appeared to be roman candle fireworks. About 10 minutes later, the men were seen climbing over chain-link fencing into an area by the Goldenson Building, then climbing scaffolding to the roof.

At approximately 2:45 a.m. campus police received a fire alarm alert from the fourth floor of the Goldenson Building, which houses a research laboratory.

It was determined that the defendants detonated a large, commercial firework inside a wooden locker in the fourth-floor research laboratory, according to the release.

Other security footage captured the defendants visiting the building’s fifth floor before exiting via a first floor emergency exit. They left in opposite directions, removing and discarding clothing items they had worn on the Harvard Medical School campus.

They returned to the Wentworth Institute of Technology, where they were visiting for Halloween.

The men were later identified as Patterson and Cardoza. They were arrested and charged in November 2025.

The charge of conspiracy to damage, by means of fire or an explosive, provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Reporting by Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times / Cape Cod Times

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