NEW YORK (Sputnik) — The defendant, 25-year-old Marcos Alonso Zea, first drew the attention of US investigators when he had boarded a flight in 2012 at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to London en route to Yemen.
Despite being prevented from traveling to Yemen and returning to the United States, prosecutors claimed that Zea had continued to plot ways to fight jihad along with a co-conspirator up until the time he was arrested in October 2013.
“Marcos Alonso Zea presents a chilling reminder of the danger presented to the United States by homegrown terrorists,” Lynch said.
Prosecutors also found that Zea had tried to hide evidence by destroying an electronic hard drive on his laptop.
Zea’s co-conspirator, 20-year-old Justin Kaliebe, pleaded guilty to providing material support to a terrorist organization in 2013 and is awaiting sentencing.