BALTIMORE – A man pleaded guilty Thursday to attempting to blow up a Maryland military recruiting center as part of a foiled terror plot.
Antonio Martinez, 22, admitted trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up an Armed Forces recruiting center in Catonsville in December 2010, The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday.
The Maryland man, who also uses the name Muhammed Hussain, faces 25 years in prison over the foiled plot after coming to an agreement with prosecutors, the newspaper said.
He was arrested on Dec. 8, 2010, after he attempted to detonate what he believed to be explosives, supplied by federal agents, at the recruiting center.
His lawyer previously claimed that his client had been entrapped and that the bombing plot was designed by the federal government to set up Martinez.
Martinez, a Muslim, allegedly wrote about his support of jihad (holy war) and his desire to go fight in Afghanistan or Pakistan on Facebook, in the months before the foiled attack, according to an FBI informant.
"My dream is to be amongst the ranks of the mujahideen," Martinez allegedly wrote. "Jihad is all I think about when i sleep, when I wake up, sometimes i cry cuz im not there and kaffur [nonbelievers] killing all our brothers and sisters."
Martinez allegedly told the informant in October 2010 that he wanted to "kill them as they killing muslim around the world," an FBI email said.
He will be sentenced April 6 at Maryland US District Court.
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