Md. man caught in sting pleads guilty in bomb plot

Md. man caught in sting pleads guilty in bomb plot

BALTIMORE (AP) — A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to trying to detonate what he thought was a car bomb outside a military recruiting center in suburban Baltimore.

Antonio Martinez originally pleaded not guilty but entered a new plea today in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. He pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a property leased and used by the U.S. Defense Department. Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced April 6.

Court documents detail a sting that allegedly caught Martinez trying to detonate a phony car bomb, provided by the FBI, outside the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Catonsville.

The 22-year-old’s attorneys sought to have the charges dismissed, arguing that early meetings with an informant were not recorded.