Guilty plea for ex-air traffic controller

DENVER, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A disgruntled former air traffic controller pleaded guilty in federal court in Denver to trying to bomb homes of former co-workers who helped get him fired.

Robert Burke faces five to 20 years in prison and could be ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced Feb. 2, The Rocky Mountain News reports.

In a plea agreement, prosecutors recommended Burke serve 10 years.

Burke, 54, was fired for threatening fellow employees, court documents show.

He would talk about guns he owned and told a co-worker at the Grand Junction, Colo., airport that if the co-worker did not do things his way, "something big was going to happen," the affidavit for an arrest warrant stated.

Two years after being fired he placed homemade bombs on the lawns of five former co-workers. Two of them exploded.

He was arrested on April 5 in Utah, after calling a Grand Junction newspaper reporter and trying to arrange a meeting.