Guilty Pleas From Two NJ Men Accused of Planning To Join Jihad Overseas

Two New Jersey men have entered guilty pleas to charges that they were planning on joining al-Shabab, an al Qaeda affiliated group.

Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte entered into a packaged plea deal Thursday in a Newark federal courtroom.

They admitted to conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap persons outside the United States by joining al-Shabab, a designated terrorist organization.

The two were arrested in June at New York's Kennedy Airport.

Alessa's family had refused to acknowledge that their son was attempting to carry out jihad and instead blamed the FBI for entrapping their son. They knew their son was troubled, had violent tendencies, and actually made violent threats against fellow students at various schools in Northern New Jersey.

Clearly, their defense attorneys thought the better of taking this case to trial and instead entered a plea deal that would likely result in sentencing recommendations of 10-15 years since both men were charged with one count of conspiracy to kill, maim and murder persons outside of the United States that carry a life sentence.