Twenty-year-old Gregory Lepsky, of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, recently pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Lepsky entered into a plea deal that was accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp, the Department of Justice announced.
Lepsky confessed that he intended to make a pressure cooker bomb to set off in New York on behalf of ISIS.
In Lepsky’s plea hearing, he confessed that he strategized a plan to set off a pressure cooker bomb in New York City on behalf of ISIS. He also confirmed that he used the internet to communicate with ISIS directives, to gather direction on how to make a bomb, and to purchase the pressure cooker and other materials to build the bomb.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Lepsky will be given a sentence between 16 and 19 years in prison and lifetime supervision upon his release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Jersey.
Lepsky was arrested by the Point Pleasant Police Department in February for a non-related incident where he threatened to kill the family dog. Officials searched Lepsky’s home and discovered a new pressure cooker hidden in his bedroom.
A search of Lepsky’s computer and other devices confirmed that he was planning to construct and set off a bomb in support of ISIS, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Jersey.
Lepsky’s social media posts indicated that he shared his support of ISIS and intentions with others. He said he intended to fight on behalf of ISIS and that he would, if necessary, become a martyr by driving a “bunch of explosives” to where the “enemies” could be found and blowing himself up.
Officials also found step-by-step instructions from a different terrorist group detailing how to build a pressure cooker bomb.
