Man behind Asheville airport bomb pleads guilty

ASHEVILLE — The man who allegedly left an explosive device at the Asheville Regional Airport pleaded guilty in federal court Friday morning. 

Michael Christopher Estes, 46, was initially charged with attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful possession of explosive materials in an airport. He pleaded guilty to the latter count — which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine — according to Lia Bantavani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

Estes admitted in court Friday that he bought the materials for the bomb he built and left by the baggage claim of the airport in the early hours of Oct. 6. Estes told federal law enforcement that he planned to "fight a war on U.S. soil," according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

On the components of the explosive device with which Estes planned to fight that war, he had written "FOR GOD AND COUNTRY" and "FOR ALL THE V/N VETS OUT THERE!!!," according to plea documents.

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MORE: Complaint: Airport bomb suspect wanted 'to fight a war on US soil'

Attached to the bomb was a clock with an alarm positioned to go off at 6 a.m., but Estes hadn't set the alarm. He told federal agents that "his intention was not to hurt the public but to devise a training scenario," Bantavani wrote in a press release. 

Authorities at the airport were alerted of the "suspicious bag" containing the bomb at about 6:30 a.m., roughly six hours after Estes left it there. 

A sentencing date for Estes has not yet been set.