(MENAFN- The Peninsula) An American man from a small community on Long Island was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to join Al-Qaeda in Yemen, prosecutors said.
US-born citizen Marcos Alonso Zea, 26, was thwarted in a 2012 attempt to travel to Yemen. He was intercepted by British authorities en route to the Middle East and sent back to New York.
Back home and under FBI surveillance, he then encouraged a friend, Justin Kaliebe, to travel to Yemen to wage jihad.
After Kaliebe was arrested at New York's JFK airport in January 2013, Zea attempted to destroy extremist material on his computer, including Al-Qaeda's online English-language magazine, Inspire.
He was arrested in October 2013 and has been in custody ever since. Prosecutors said he was sentenced at a federal courthouse in Central Islip close to his home in Brentwood on Long Island.
Attorney Loretta Lynch, who has been waiting months for her confirmation vote as the next US attorney general, said Zea was "a chilling reminder" of the danger posed by home-grown terrorists.
"Born, raised and schooled in the United States, the defendant nevertheless betrayed his country," said Lynch, currently attorney of the eastern district of New York.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.