Former U.S. Marine Everitt Aaron Jameson, 27, of Modesto, California, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison, and a life term of supervised release, after pleading guilty on June 4 to planning a terror attack on behalf of ISIS.
Jameson was conspiring an attack planned for last Christmas at Pier 39 in San Francisco, a well-known and busy tourist attraction. According to the plea agreement, reached in June, Jameson voiced support for ISIS knowing that the organization was engaging in terrorist activity and terrorism between September 2017 and Dec. 20, 2017.
He was arrested in December, after months of FBI investigation, ABC News reported.
The Department of Justice said that Jameson chose that particular location because there is a mass number of people and “explosives could be used to funnel people into an area so that he could inflict casualties by shooting people trying to escape.”
Court documents stated that Jameson told an undercover agent, whom he believed to be associated with ISIS, that he was “was ready to do whatever they needed done” and noted that his time in the military had trained him for combat and war.
California Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS https://t.co/psSxUI1Rmr
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) August 6, 2018
On Dec. 16, 2017, Jameson said that he was “well versed in the ‘Anarchist Cookbook,’” and described his aspiration to use explosives in an attack.
He said that he could get PVC pipe, nails and powder for explosive devices, court documents further revealed.
Jameson also offered to provide money to the cause.
Officials also found weapons and a death note referring to President Donald Trump at Jameson’s home, the Justice Department said.
Jameson could have served 40 years in prison if he had gone to trial, SF Gate News had reported.
Jameson, a former tow truck driver, has two young children.
The former Marine was discharged from the military following an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
Jameson later converted to Islam and started following radical messages on the internet.
His wife was arrested after attacking Jameson with a knife, and he then lost custody of his children, defense attorney Charles Lee said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement Monday: “Jameson put his fellow Americans at risk by supporting ISIS and planning an attack on behalf of the terrorist organization. This is unacceptable, and I am grateful for the hardworking agents and prosecutors who are responsible for this successful result. There is no place in the United States for terrorists and terrorist sympathizers who threaten innocent people.”
The sentence was issued by U.S. District Judge Lawrence O’Neill.
