One of Five Anarchist Occupiers Pleads Guilty in Ohio Bridge Bomb Plot

(The Blaze/AP) -- One of five men charged with plotting to bomb an Ohio highway bridge pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to testify against his co-defendants.

Anthony Hayne, 35, of Cleveland, pleaded to all three counts against him in U.S. District Court. His attorney, Michael O'Shea, said Hayne hopes to get leniency in return for his testimony.

Authorities have called the men anarchists who acted out of their own anger against corporate America and the government, and investigators say the group planted what turned out to be a dud bomb provided by an FBI undercover informant on a bridge south of Cleveland and then tried to detonate it.

Hayne previously signed a lease for the warehouse that was housing roughly a dozen Occupy Cleveland members. The Associated Press reported in May that the group was trying to scrub his name from the list.

The $600 monthly rent for the space was paid to a landlord not to Hayne, Occupy spokesman Joseph Zitt told The Plain Dealer. He argues they just needed a name to be on the lease.

The Occupy movement has attempted to distance itself from the violent and potentially murderous plan. They have admitted the men were affiliated with Occupy Cleveland but argue they do not represent it or the movement's non-violent philosophy.

The defendants could face life in prison if convicted.

The five were charged with plotting to bomb a bridge linking two wealthy Cleveland suburbs by placing what they thought were real explosives at the site and repeatedly trying to detonate them using text messages from cellphones, according to the FBI affidavit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.