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Aurora cousins to be sentenced in terror plot

Aurora cousins who plotted to attack a Joliet National Guard base in the name of the Islamic State are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday to what could be lengthy prison sentences.

Hasan Edmonds, 23, and Jonas Edmonds, 30, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to support a foreign terrorist group, specifically the Islamic State, also know as ISIS or ISIL. In exchange for those admissions, prosecutors are recommending sentences of 30 years and 21 years in prison, respectively, court records show. The judge does not have to abide by that recommendation, however.

According to authorities, Hasan Edmonds, a former member of the Army National Guard of Illinois, began communicating online in January 2015 with someone he believed was an Islamic State fighter in Libya but who was actually an undercover FBI agent. During their conversations, Edmonds expressed support for the Islamic State and indicated he and his cousin Jonas Edmonds would travel to the Middle East to fight with the group or stage attacks in the United States.

In March 2015, Hasan Edmonds told a second undercover FBI agent he had purchased a ticket to Cairo, Egypt, in order to travel to fight for the terrorist organization, authorities said. Jonas Edmonds told the same agent that he intended to attack his cousin's former Army National Guard base in Joliet and anticipated leaving a "body count" of up to 150 people.

On March 24, 2015, the cousins and the undercover agent drove to the base, where they discussed the attack. The following day, Jonas Edmonds drove Hasan Edmonds to Midway International Airport in Chicago, then went to Hasan Edmonds' home and retrieved several National Guard uniforms to disguise himself to carry out the attack on the base, federal authorities said. Both men were arrested that day and have been held without bail.

Jonas Edmonds pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to the FBI.

Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State. Prosecutors said his actions were "a contemptible betrayal of both the nation's trust and his fellow soldiers" and called on the judge to "incapacitate the defendant and to deter him (and others) from committing such acts in the future ... it is assumed he will remain a danger to the public for many years."

The Edmonds each must complete 85 percent of the sentences before being eligible for parole.

In court filings, Jonas Edmonds claims his comments about attacking the National Guard base were merely "bold talk" and he would not have followed through with an attack.

Hasan Edmonds claims he was "overwhelmingly influenced by his cousin Jonas" and under his guidance "became exposed to a thoroughly distorted and radicalized version of Islam." He went on to say any advice he gave his cousin about attacking the National Guard base could have been gleaned from Mel Gibson's "The Patriot" or by "watching reruns of 'F Troop.'"

In their sentencing memorandums, federal prosecutors cite deterrence as one argument in favor of the lengthy sentences.

They would not comment further, but a former federal prosecutor said the biggest deterrent might be in leading friends and relatives to intervene with someone expressing radical views.

"I've never met a defendant who, when he or she was planning and executing a crime, thought he or she would be caught," said Jeffrey Cramer, a former assistant U.S. attorney. "But what's the alternative? You have to give heavy sentences if nothing else, to house them for 20 to 30 years so they can't harm anybody."

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