Man targeted work colleagues with homemade bombs
A former air traffic controller accused of planting homemade bombs in March outside the homes of four co-workers and a Federal Aviation Administration official pleaded guilty today to one single count that could put him in prison for more than a decade.
Burke, 54, was arrested in Utah in April. He agreed to plead guilty to a charge of malicious damage to a building used in interstate commerce.
Burke had worked for Serco Group PLC, a British company that staffs air traffic control towers at airports in Grand Junction, Colorado, and 55 other locations. He was fired in 2004 after working for Serco for four years.
US District Judge Robert Blackburn said the charge was punishable by five to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to £134,000. Prosecutors said they will recommended a term of 10 years when Burke is sentenced on February 2.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has said the Grand Junction bombs were similar to a device that exploded at Serco offices in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in February.
No-one was injured and only minor property damage was reported when three of the bombs in Grand Junction exploded. Two others were defused by bomb technicians.
