Lawsuit over arms deal gone awry implicates companies run by Gettysburg school board members (2025)

An Adams County defense contractor — who also serves as a local police officer and Gettysburg school board member — is being sued in federal court by a Wyoming-based company that claims it paid nearly $4 million for explosives and cannon powder that were never delivered.

The apparent botched arms deal centers around Ryan Morris, a Liberty Township police officer and Gettysburg Area School District board member who operates Tripwire South – which bills itself as “a world leader in explosive products, services, and training” – as well as its sister company, Tripwire Aviation.

The suit against the companies was filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by Michael Hrobuchak, CEO of the Bizzell Corporation, a Wyoming-based outfit that says it paid Morris and Tripwire a total of $3.9 million for 41,407 pounds of Composition B, an explosive filling for artillery shells, as well as roughly 190,000 pounds of various propellant powders.

Bizzell was seeking the munitions as part of deals to supply munitions to Ukraine and Israel, Hrobuchak wrote in the court complaint.

Morris indicated he had access to large quantities of material to sell, according to messages filed as exhibits in the case, sending pictures of a large block of Composition B as well as safety data sheets for the different chemicals.

But the U.S. military salvage facility from which Morris claimed to be sourcing the Composition B had never cleared the material for sale, Hrobuchak claims in the suit, and Morris had sold the powders to a different buyer.

Morris did not immediately return PennLive’s phone message left at Tripwire on Monday.

However, the Gettysburg Times quoted Morris as saying Hrobuchak is “a fraud,” and that Bizzell did not have the proper federal clearances to obtain military materials.

Tripwire, Morris told the Times, is now out millions of dollars after sourcing materials for a buyer that is not actually licensed to take delivery of them.

“This whole thing is all about a personal attack on me,” Morris told the Times.

To that point, Bizzell’s suit also contains a number of salacious allegations about Morris for which no supporting legal exhibits are provided.

In the suit, Hrobuchak claims that Morris used Tripwire South’s assets – including money received from Bizzell for the undelivered goods – to fund other business ventures and shield them from creditors, which Hrobuchak says Morris has a history of doing.

Shortly after the disputed transaction, Hrobuchak notes, several helicopters were purchased by Tripwire Aviation, a recently-formed company run by Morris and fellow Gettysburg school board member Michael Dickerson, who have promoted their services in local media.

Additionally, Gettysburg school board president Kenny Hassinger is also listed as an employee of Tripwire South.

Without providing supporting documents in the court filing, Hrobuchak also asserts “upon information and belief” that Morris used money from Bizzell to fund his wedding in Ireland and “opulent personal lifestyle,” including purchasing Rolex watches.

Morris had previously run Tripwire South through a separate operating company, according to Hrobuchak’s suit, and this company declared bankruptcy while holding several unfilled military contracts, including with the nation of Qatar. The company had also been used by Morris to cover his personal expenditures, Hrobuchak alleges.

Court documents substantiate part of this narrative. Morris filed for personal bankruptcy last year, according to court records, indicating his only ownership stake was in Tripwire Operations Group and not listing Tripwire South or Tripwire Aviation.

Tripwire Operations Group itself had filed for bankruptcy in 2022, and lists multiple creditors including a $339,716.02 claim by the embassy of Qatar, according to bankruptcy records, as well as two outstanding loans of $350,000 and $89,000 from the federal Small Business Administration, along with other debts. The company’s 90-day expenditure disclosure listed a large number of unspecified wire transfers and credit card payments.

Hrobuchak and Bizzell are seeking a breach-of-contract judgement and associated damages. The case has been assigned to Judge Keli M. Neary.