A 25-year-old man named Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud has pleaded guilty to conspiring to support Al-Nusrah Front which is affiliated to al-Qaeda. Mohamud who is from Colombus, Ohio was first charged in April 2015. He is also accused of providing false statements to investigators.
How Mohamud attempted to commit the crime
Mohamud is originally from Somalia and is a naturalized U.S citizen. He obtained a U.S passport and one-way ticket to Greece in 2014. His plane transited through Turkey before heading to Greece. Mohamud never boarded back onto the plane when it took off from Turkey to Greece.
While in Turkey, he entered Syria by crossing the border where he received training from terrorist group Al-Nusrah Front.
While in Syria he engaged in firefights and desired to die while fighting. Mohamud also admitted having fought together with his brother while in Syria. He later came back to the U.S after his brother died. While in the U.S Mohamud researched places where he can carry out a terror attack. His plans were to obtain weapons and use them to kill people in uniform such as military officers or government employees. The Fbi later arrested him before he committed his crimes.
Mohamud's possible sentence
Mohamud might be imprisoned for up to fifteen years for providing material support to a foreign terrorist group.
He might also receive a maximum eight-year sentence for making false statements to the FBI regarding his terrorist activities abroad.
The acting assistant attorney General Boente in a press release yesterday stated that Mohamud has admitted to traveling abroad and providing material support to a foreign terrorist group and planned to conduct an attack in the United States.
He also said that the efforts of the government are to conduct counterterrorism by identifying, disrupting and arresting suspected terrorists.
Terrorists who have recently pleaded guilty to terror crimes
An Arizona woman pleaded guilty in early June this year for conspiring to take part in a terror act. Her husband who was an inmate was also charged.
The woman pleaded guilty to providing her husband with ISIS magazines and instructions for making explosives which he wanted to use inside the prison to kill a prison warden at the Lewis prison complex located in Buckeye.
A man named Enrique Marquez Jr. also pleaded guilty in February this year for buying rifles that were used in the 2015 San Bernardino terror attack. Marquez called the police after the shooting and admitted that the perpetrator of the attack used a gun which he bought.
