A former Illinois National Guard soldier pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of attempting to provide material support for an Islamic State terrorist attack that would have targeted Chicago’s southwestern suburbs.
Hasan Edmonds, 22, entered the plea Monday in Chicago federal court. He and his 29-year-old cousin, Jonas Edmonds, who was charged last week, conspired to kill 150 people with assault rifles and grenades at the Joliet Armory facility in Joliet, Ill.
An undercover FBI agent on Facebook is responsible for thwarting the plan. According to CBS, the agent befriended the cousins on Facebook in late 2014. In early 2015, Hasan sent multiple messages to the agent, who he believed was a member of ISIS, telling him Jonas was going to use his uniform and credentials to enter and attack the military facility he had trained at.
Hasan had also told the agent about his plans to travel overseas to Cairo, Egypt to join ISIS extremists before his cousin carried out the attack, which would have put both of them on the government’s radar.
Hasan had planned on traveling to Cairo this week, but now faces up to 30 years in prison. Jonas will be sentenced Jan. 27 and faces 23 years in prison.
