James Kilgore, a former Symbionese Liberation Army member seized in South Africa last November after decades on the run, pleaded guilty on Friday to explosives and forgery charges just days after four colleagues received up to eight years in jail for a 1975 bank robbery. The last remaining member of the radical group to face justice, Kilgore, 55, could receive up to 10 years in prison for possessing a pipe bomb and five for the forgery offense when he is sentenced on June 30. The SLA achieved international headlines in 1974 when it kidnapped heiress Patricia Hearst. Prosecutors declined to discuss the case with reporters after the hearing but told U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel there was no plea deal with Kilgore. The judge said she was unsure what kind of sentence to mete out to Kilgore, who also faces fines that could top $250,000. “I can’t promise you anything right now,” Patel told Kilgore, who stood between his lawyers with his head bowed during much of the brief hearing. “I don’t know what sentence will be imposed.” The plea opens the way for the former fugitive, who worked as a university professor in Cape Town, South Africa, under an assumed name, to address state charges for a 1975 SLA bank robbery that resulted in the killing of an innocent customer. Full Story
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