The Associated Press

LONDON, Ky. - A man who shot at a sheriff's deputy pleaded guilty Friday to federal weapons charges.

Steve H. Anderson, 55, of Pulaski County, admitted in federal court in London that he illegally possessed a machine gun, carried and fired a gun during a crime of violence and possessed unregistered firearms, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Anderson faces at least 10 years in federal prison.

Scott Elder, a deputy sheriff in Bell County, stopped Anderson's pickup near Middlesboro in October 2001 to tell him the taillights weren't working. Elder saw ammunition in the truck and asked whether Anderson had guns with him. Anderson then riddled the deputy's cruiser with bullets.

Elder was not hurt and shot back before Anderson drove into the hills of eastern Kentucky. Anderson eluded police for more than a year.

When police searched Anderson's home after the shooting, they found illegal weapons, including a machine gun and silencer, a sawed-off rifle, two homemade bombs and 25 fragmentation grenades, according to a federal indictment.

Federal agents arrested Anderson in Cherokee County, N.C. A tipster had called investigators after he appeared on the television show America's Most Wanted.

Anderson was once a member of the Kentucky State Militia. The organization said it dismissed Anderson because he made inflammatory comments about the U.S. government, blacks, Jews and immigrants over an unlicensed radio station he operated from his Pulaski County home.

Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 12.