McKay's trial in January ended when jurors were unable to reach a verdict. He had claimed that he was entrapped by the FBI's informant in the case, Brandon Darby, who traveled with an Austin group to protest at the convention last year.
A new trial was set to start Monday, but McKay, 23, agreed to a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. Details of the plea agreement weren't made public; attorneys indicated that the government would recommend a four-year sentence.
As the judge, McKay and attorneys proceeded with the legal requirements of completing the plea bargain, it became apparent that McKay couldn't bring himself to admit that the idea to build the firebombs was his and his alone.
The hour-and-40-minute hearing appeared to leave both attorneys and the judge exasperated and the defendant frustrated and in tears. While saying he wanted to take responsibility for his actions, McKay steadfastly maintained that part of the blame for building eight Molotov cocktails rested with the informant.
At one point, he said, "I made my own decision to agree to make Molotov cocktails."
After a brief recess, during which both sides tried yet again to reach an agreement, McKay again stood before the judge and contended that the informant was "involved" in the conversations to build the Molotov cocktails.
After some more back-and-forth, the judge decided to give defense lawyer Jeffrey DeGree and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Paulsen until 9 a.m. today to either reach an agreement or start the trial.
"My suggestion is we need time to cool off," U.S. District Judge Michael Davis told the attorneys.
McKay and another man, Bradley Neal Crowder, were charged in the case. Crowder, also 23 and from Austin, has already pleaded guilty in a plea bargain; when he did so, he told Davis that he and McKay alone came up with the bomb-making scheme and that they weren't influenced by anyone. He has not been sentenced.
McKay testified during his January trial that at a meeting on the eve of the convention, Darby came up with the idea to build Molotov cocktails. McKay admitted that he and Crowder bought the components and assembled the devices in a St. Paul apartment house without Darby.
Darby testified that he wasn't at the supposed meeting. Crowder, the only other person McKay said was present, was not called as a witness.
For the retrial, the government has come up with more evidence, including tape recordings of McKay admitting to his father that Darby wasn't involved in the decision to build the Molotov cocktails, Paulsen said Monday. Also, the government filed a motion Friday asking the court to compel Crowder to testify in return for immunity.
Crowder's attorney fought the motion, but after Davis granted the government's immunity request, Paulsen said McKay intended to plead guilty.
This early version of the article was first published in the Austin-American Statesman.
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