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A Gaithersburg man accused of making pipe bombs alongside Collin McKenzie-Gude, who was sentenced to five years in federal prison for possessing bomb-making chemicals, was sentenced to community service and three years of probation in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Patrick Yevsukov, 19, told judge Louise G. Scrivener he has changed since July 2008, when police who raided McKenzie-Gude's Bethesda home found 50 pounds of bomb-making chemicals, assault rifles, two bulletproof vests filled with armor-piercing ammunition, a document explaining how to kill someone at 200 meters and what prosecutors said was a map of Camp David marked with a presidential motorcade route.

Yevsukov was key in helping prosecutors develop their case against McKenzie-Gude, now 20, and told them McKenzie-Gude intended to use the weapons to kill several people including then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Yevsukov testified in federal court the two former friends had bonded over their interest in guns and explosives and had detonated several pipe bombs together at his Gaithersburg home. He said he initially went along with McKenzie-Gude's plans, but when he realized their severity, he backed out.

Yevsukov pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to two counts of manufacturing an explosive device. He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors — theft under $100 and unauthorized access to a computer — stemming from an incident where he stole letterhead and accessed computers at a Montgomery County police station where he was an intern.

In imposing judgment, Scrivener said she took into account Yevsukov's cooperation with authorities, his straight-A academic record at the University of Baltimore, where he is a student, and his progress in therapy.

"You've done an incredible job of turning yourself around these past two years," Scrivener said.

She said she imposed community service so Yevsukov could pay back the community for the time and effort expended in prosecuting the case. She also the theft from police was concerning.

"We have to sit back — as a community and a judge — and say, ‘How could this have happened?'"

Rene Sandler, Yevsukov's lawyer, said she would ask the judge to strike the guilty findings, leaving Yevsukov without a criminal record. The sentence, she said, was "exceptionally reasonable."

"It's been a very difficult time for me these past two years," Yevsukov told reporters after the sentencing. Yevsukov said he has maintained a 4.0 grade point average and is on the student council at his university. "I work to do everything I can to give back to the community and become a different person."

Steven Kupferberg, a lawyer for McKenzie-Gude, said in federal court Yevsukov was the ringleader of the bomb-making operation and has called repeatedly for parity in sentencing for the two defendants.