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SAN JOSE — Two men found building bombs outside Capitola City Hall in January pleaded guilty to possession of unregistered firearms in a San Jose federal court Monday.

They face up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

Peter Schnell, 23, of Ocean, N.J., and Matthew Whyte, 18, of Orange admitted to possessing 18 Magic Re-Light candles, 11 plastic one-gallon containers and enough gasoline to fill all 11 containers. Each container had a hole drilled through its lid.

The men said they intended to make 11 explosive devices.

Schnell and Whyte were arrested Jan. 23 when police spotted them just after midnight crouching in the parking lot behind Capitola city offices. Schnell and Whyte told the officers they were working on a craft project, police said.

Although they were caught in Capitola, the U.S. Attorney’s office took over in February because there was federal interest in the case, said Scott Frewing, assistant U.S. Attorney for the San Jose division. County prosecutor Gary Brayton said in February one reason for the change was federal law makes it illegal to have components of an explosive device while state law does not.

Schnell and Whyte were indicted Feb. 23 by a federal grand jury, charging them with one count of possessing firearms not registered to them and one count of making unregistered firearms.

Under a plea agreement, the two pleaded guilty to the possession charge in exchange for a potential shorter sentence, said Schnell’s attorney, Mark Vermeulen of San Francisco.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said the two defendants are associated with the Animal Liberation Front, an organization that advocates inflicting economic damage on abusers of animals, resisting law enforcement and refusing to appear when subpoenaed. The devices Schnell and Whyte were making were similar to those described on Web sites detailing Animal Liberation Front activities, Frewing said.

Whyte’s attorney, Lawrence E. Weiss of Santa Rosa, has called the possible Animal Liberation Front connection "a red herring." Vermeulen said there are no links between the two men and the Animal Liberation Front.

"These are a couple of young men with strong principles around animal rights, but their principles are individual and are not associated with any group," Vermeulen said.

According to federal court records, both Schnell and Whyte have previous arrests at animal-rights demonstrations involving the Animal Liberation Front. Their attorneys say those arrests, for which they were never charged, do not link them to the group because the issues being protested were broad.

Schell and Whyte’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 28.

Contact Rachel Uslan at ruslan@santa-cruz.com.

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