A Russian teenager living in the U.S. could face up to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of building bombs, a news report said Friday.
Vladislav Miftakhov, 18, was arrested in January after police found suspicious materials in his apartment, including an explosive device containing about a half-pound of volatile chemicals, The Huffington post reported.
Chris Brown, the public lawyer charged with defending Miftakhov, argued his client harbored no malicious intentions and only wanted to make some noise, according to the report.
However, the prosecution said Miftakhov's intentions were unclear, given police had found "anarchy" symbols in his apartment and a note saying: "If you find this, you will never find me," rolled up and stored inside a bullet casing, the report said.
The charge of manufacturing an explosive device without a license in the U.S. carries up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years probation, though the Russian teenager's guilty plea on Thursday means he is unlikely to be hit with the maximum jail term.
Miftakhov's arrest and subsequent trial comes little more than a year after Russian-born Dzhokar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonated two pressure-cooker bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 250 others.
While Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police in the days after the explosions, his brother Dzhokar remains on trial in the U.S. If convicted, the 20-year-old from Chechnya could face the death penalty.
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