Oklahoma City bomb defendant pleads guilty to misdemeanor

Monday, September 26th 2005, 5:09 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A University of Oklahoma student charged with bringing an explosive device to an airport pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge in federal court in Oklahoma City.

Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr. faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine at a future sentencing hearing.

Federal sentencing guidelines could recommend a prison term of as little as four months, but he could be eligible for some form of probation.

Dreyling, 24, was arrested in August at Will Rogers World Airport after security personnel noticed a suspicious object in his carryon bag as he was leaving for a family vacation with his parents.

Dreyling later told FBI agents the device -- a modified carbon dioxide cartridge filled with gunpowder -- was "basically a pipe bomb," according to court papers. He said he had forgotten it was in his bag.