New Yorker Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Attempting to Join Al-Qaeda

An US citizen betrayed the United States by triying to join the al-Qaeda terrorist organization in 2011 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to US Attorney Loretta Lynch on Monday.

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.

“Born, raised and schooled in the United States, the defendant nevertheless betrayed his country by attempting to join al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” Lynch said in a press release.

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.

A forensic investigation following Zea’s arrest, according to Lynch, found that Zea was in possession of an assortment of violent Islamic extremist materials, including issues of Inspire magazine, part of al-Qaeda’s English language media operations.

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.