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Ex-National Guard who planned ISIS attack on US base sentenced to 30 years

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Hasan Edmonds, a former Illinois National Guard soldier, and his cousin Jonas Edmonds made plans in 2015 to attack the National Guard armory near Chicago, but were arrested before they could carry out their plans.

A Chicago federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Hasan Edmonds, a former Illinois National Guard soldier, and his cousin, Jonas Edmonds, to prison for plotting to join the Islamic State (ISIS) and to attack a US military facility.

Hasan, 23, of Aurora, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Jonas, 30, received a 21-year prison sentence.

Hasan devised a plan to travel to the Middle East while Jonas attacked the National Guard armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, according to prosecutors. The goal, prosecutors say, was to kill as many as 150 people at the facility.

Jonas said he dropped Hasan at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS.

Jonas denied he would have attacked the base. “The person they’re trying to make me into, I’m not that person,” he told US District Judge John Lee.

Defense attorney James Graham told the judge that his client was a heavy smoker of marijuana and was boastful, but had no weapons and never would have gone through with the attack.

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The Assistant US Attorney dismissed the attempt, noting as he held up a duffel bag filled with National Guard uniforms that Jonas planned to don to help him blend in and gain access to the armory for the attack.

“Thank God the FBI was there to stop him,” he said.

‘Kill High Ranking Officers First’

After dropping his cousin off at Chicago’s Midway International Airport on March 25, 2015, Jonas went to his cousin’s home and collected the uniforms, according to prosecutors. Hasan, filings say, instructed Jonas to kill high-ranking officers first.

Agents arrested Hasan at the airport and Jonas at his home shortly thereafter.

Under plea agreements, Hasan pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jonas pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to federal agents.

By: World Israel News Staff
AP contributed to this report.