OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Afghan teenager who pleaded guilty to taking part in an Oklahoma plot to carry out an Election Day attack has been sentenced to the maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Abdullah Haji Zada, 19, a citizen of Afghanistan and lawful permanent resident who was living in Moore, Okla., was sentenced for knowingly receiving and conspiring to receive a firearm and ammunition to be used in a terrorist attack.
Zada, who pleaded guilty in April, previously agreed to be removed from the United States and barred from reentry after he’s released from prison, court records show.
Zada’s co-defendant, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who previously worked as a security guard for an American military installation in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty in June to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group. He faces up to 35 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Prosecutors allege Zada and Tawhedi took steps to obtain AK-47 rifles and ammunition and planned to carry out an attack targeting large crowds on Election Day last year. Their plot was thwarted by the FBI when they were arrested after meeting with undercover agents to receive the weapons and ammunition.
“By hatching a violent plot against the United States on behalf of ISIS, the defendant and his co-conspirator shamefully turned their backs on the country that provided them safety and refuge,” FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater said in a statement.
An FBI agent who testified at a hearing last year said Tawhedi had used the online messaging application Telegram to communicate with an account associated with the Islamic State militant organization that was directing his actions, and that Tawhedi had sworn allegiance to the group and “would do whatever they told him to.”
