A Kenyan man has been found guilty and convicted for planning an attack on a United States building on behalf of the al-Shabaab terrorist group.
A federal jury in Manhattan on Monday, November 4, convicted Cholo Abdi Abdullah on all the six charges he faced for conspiring to hijack an aircraft and crash it into a building.
During the trial, Abdullah represented himself and chose not to deliver an opening statement.
Also, he did not take an active role in questioning witnesses who were present.
The prosecutors, according to the court documents, stated that Abdullah did not believe in the legitimacy of the system.
Therefore, he wanted to remain passive during the trial, not contest the prosecution, and accept the outcome regardless.
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How the Kenyan Plotted the Attack
Federal prosecutors accused Abdullah of plotting the attack for four years. He was undergoing extensive training in explosives and how to operate in secret and avoid detection.
Further, he moved to the Philippines in 2017 where he began training as a commercial pilot. The Kenyan was just about to complete his two-year pilot training when he was arrested in 2019 on local charges.
Consequently, he was transferred to US law enforcement in 2020 and charged with terrorism-related crimes.
Prosecutors said Abdullah had also researched how to break into a cockpit and was looking for information about the tallest building in a major US city before his arrest.
He will be sentenced next March and faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison.
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Also Read: Court Gives Direction on Kenyan Who Killed Girlfriend in America
The Case of Kevin Kang’ethe
Separately, Kevin Kang’ethe, a Kenyan man accused of murdering his girlfriend in the United States and then fleeing to Kenya was arraigned and charged in a US Court in September after his extradition to the country.
Clerk Magistrate Edward Curley ordered Kangethe to be held without bail after the suspect pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Earlier, Diplomatic agencies worked together in the investigation of the murder and bringing Kang’ethe back from Nairobi, to face his charge in Boston.
Kang’ethe, once a fugitive after fleeing the US and later escaping from Muthaiga Police Station, was arraigned following his extradition to Massachusetts.
The 40-year-old is alleged to have killed his girlfriend Margaret Mbitu, a home health care aide in the town of Halifax, Massachusetts – between October 30 and November 1, 2023
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