Aziz Ihab Sayyed, a 23-year-old American citizen, plead guilty Thursday in a Birmingham federal court to plotting to execute terrorist acts in America for ISIS.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Sayyed purchased the materials to devise an explosive after he watched ISIS propaganda videos. Prosecutors said that he shared his hopes with others about using the device as an explosive belt or a car bomb.
Sayyed also conveyed that his target was police stations or the Redstone Arsenal military installation in Madison County.
“Sayyed researched and learned how to make triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a highly volatile and extremely dangerous explosive material, purchased the necessary ingredients for the explosive, and professed his aspiration to use TATP in an explosive belt and/or a car bomb, according to the plea agreement,” the Justice Department said.
Sayyed “attempted to form a cell to conduct violent acts within the United States,” the Justice Department said.
An undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS member listened to Sayyed share his plans, which lead to his arrest.
Sayyed is expected to enter into a plea agreement that calls for a 15-year prison sentence, according to the Justice Department. It is likely that the state charge will be dropped, Sayyed’s lawyer told WAAY 31, according to Fox News.
“The state’s 10 is now off the table, too, for the 15. Now everybody got something in this. The government didn’t hand away its case,” Bruce Gardner, Sayyed’s lawyer, told WAAY 31.
