US terror suspects sentenced to 30 years

A Chicago federal judge sentenced a former Illinois National Guard soldier and his cousin to prison for plotting to join fighters from the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) and to attack a US military facility in the Chicago area.

Hasan Edmonds, 24, was sentenced to 30 years in prison; his cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 31, received a 21-year prison sentence. The men had pleaded guilty in December 2015 to conspiring to provide material support to IS.

Both men are US citizens.

Elaborate attacks thwarted

Hasan Edmonds was a soldier when he began communicating online with an FBI agent pretending to be an IS fighter in Libya. He told the spy that he and his cousin Jonas were ready to conduct an attack in the United States. Edmonds and his cousin later started to meet with another undercover agent, who pretended to help Edmonds plan a trip to Mosul, Iraq, to join IS.

They also discussed a plan for his cousin Jonas Edmonds to use Hasan's military uniforms to attack the Joliet Armory, located 35 miles (55 kilometers) outside of Chicago, Illinois - where Hasan Edmonds was assigned. Prosecutors said that they intended to kill as many as 100 to 150 people at the facility. Jonas Edmonds, however, denied that he would have attacked the military armory - even though he was arrested with a duffel bag in his possession containing National Guard uniforms.

Under plea bargains, Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jonas Edmonds pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to federal agents.

ss/kl (AFP, AP)