A 17-year-old boy from New Jersey on Monday pleaded guilty as an adult to one count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group for hiring a sniper to shoot the worldwide head of the Catholic Church.
Santos Colon Jr. of Lindenwold, N.J., entered the plea before U.S. District Court Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court, according to a Justice Department press release issued Monday evening.
Court documents state Colon, a U.S. citizen, admitted to planning an attack during Pope Francis’ stateside visit to Philadelphia in September 2015. Colon started plotting the attack in late June 2015 through mid-August.
He had planned to hire a sniper to shoot the pope during mass, as well as set off explosives in the area. However, the person Colon hired as his sniper was actually an undercover FBI agent. The two discussed how to purchase the supplies for the explosives.
Colon was arrested by the FBI in late summer.
The suspect faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
