BOSTON. - Court documents reveal that Rezwan Ferdaus pleads guilty on two counts to charges of terrorism. In September 2011, Ferdaus was arrested for possessing 24 pounds of explosives and conspiring to fly a remote-controlled plane loaded with explosives into the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.
Ferdaus was charged on six counts of terrorism. Initially upon his arrest, he pled not-guilty to all charges. In November, his defense team declared that the 27-year-old was mentally ill. On Tuesday, however, Ferdaus pled guilty to two of the counts and prosecutors have agreed to dismiss the other four.
Ferdaus is pleading guilty of attempting to provide explosive material to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings. The defense and prosecutors have agreed to a 17 year old prison sentence.
Ferdaus was discovered in an undercover FBI mission in which officers posed as al-Qaida members and asked Ferdaus to deliver explosives and weapons including three grenades and six assault rifles, which he did to a group of disguised agents. In a different undercover mission he delivered phones with trigger mechanisms to FBI agents.
Ferdaus allegedly told undercover agents that his "desire to attack the United States was so strong...I just can't stop. There is no other choice for me," as reported by the Associated Press.
Ferdaus, 27, is an American citizen from Ashland Massachusetts who studied physics at Boston's Northeastern University.
Experts confirm that there was no threat to the American public and that his plan to fly a plane into the Pentagon had no practical plausibility. Perhaps this is why prosecutors were able to come to an agreement.
