A South Carolina man who was facing terror charges for planning attacks inspired by the Islamic State group pleaded guilty to the charges, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
During a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth S. Chestney in San Antonio, Kristopher Sean Matthews, 34, plead guilty to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, the Justice Department said in a press release. He had planned to bomb or shoot up the White House and Trump Tower in New York City, the Associated Press reported. (RELATED: Swiss Woman Arrested After Suspected Terror Attack Had Ties To Jihadist In Syria)
Man admits to ‘Netflix worthy’ terror plots at Trump Tower, White House https://t.co/x4duWJrUjr pic.twitter.com/LlOrmRk5fy
— New York Post (@nypost) November 25, 2020
Matthews acknowledged that he had been working with 22-year-old Jaylyn Christopher Molina since May 2019 to share bomb-making information, which was intended to be used to carry out domestic and foreign attacks on behalf of the Islamic State.
Matthews and Molina also recruited and radicalized other individuals to support ISIS.
The two were indicted October 14 by a grand jury on one count each of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and one count each of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
If convicted, Matthews faces up to 20 years in federal prison and Molina faces up to 40 years in federal prison, according to the report. Matthews is scheduled to be sentenced March 4, and both remain in federal custody.