Judge to bomb plotter in Akron, Ohio: Am I biased?

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- A judge ready to sentence a fourth man in a failed plot to bomb a highway bridge in Ohio asked the defendant if he should step aside because of bias.

Federal Judge David Dowd asked the attorney for 35-year-old Anthony Hayne of Cleveland to discuss the issue with Hayne before Friday's sentencing in Akron.

The issue involves comments the judge made to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer that were favorable to three co-defendants sentenced last week.

Hayne hopes his plea deal gives him half of the eight- to 11-year sentences his co-defendants got, not half the longer terms sought by the government. The judge called the longer recommendations grotesque.

On Thursday, 21-year-old Connor Stevens of Berea became the last of the three to appeal his sentence as too harsh.