Afghan teenager charged in Oklahoma plot for Election Day attack sentenced to 15 years

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Afghan teenager who pleaded guilty to taking part in an Oklahoma plot to carry out an Election Day attack has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Abdullah Haji Zada, 19, a citizen of Afghanistan and lawful permanent resident who was living in Moore, Oklahoma, was sentenced for knowingly receiving and conspiring to receive a firearm and ammunition to be used in a terrorist attack, court records show.

Zada previously agreed to be removed from the United States after he is released from prison, court records show.

Zada’s attorney, Jeff Byers, declined to comment Wednesday on the sentence.

Zada’s co-defendant, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who previously worked as a security guard for an American military installation in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group. He faces up to 35 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege Zada and Tawhedi took steps to obtain AK-47 rifles and ammunition and planned to carry out an attack targeting large crowds on Election Day last year.

“By hatching a violent plot against the United States on behalf of ISIS, the defendant and his co-conspirator shamefully turned their backs on the country that provided them safety and refuge,” FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater said in a statement.

An FBI agent who testified at a hearing last year said Tawhedi had used the online messaging application Telegram to communicate with an account associated with the Islamic State militant organization that was directing his actions, and that Tawhedi had sworn allegiance to the group and “would do whatever they told him to.”