NEW YORK – A man from Long Island was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday for trying to join Al Qaeda.
He planned to travel to Yemen, according to officials.
Marcos Alonso Zea, also known as “Ali Zea,” an American citizen and resident of Brentwood, New York, was sentenced following his Sept. 9, guilty plea to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as Ansar al-Sharia, and obstruction of justice.
“Marcos Alonso Zea presents a chilling reminder of the danger presented to the United States by homegrown terrorists,” said U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch today.
“Born, raised and schooled in the United States, the defendant nevertheless betrayed his country by attempting to join al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, assisting a co-conspirator’s attempt to join that terrorist group, and, after learning he was under investigation, attempting to destroy evidence of his guilt.”
Here are the facts surround this case, according to authorities:
- Beginning in the fall of 2011, Zea planned to travel overseas in order to wage violent jihad against the perceived enemies of Islam, which included the government of Yemen and its allies.
- In furtherance of his plot, on Jan. 4, 2012, Zea boarded a flight at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York, to London, en route to Yemen.
- Zea was not permitted to travel onward from London, however, and was returned to the United States by British authorities.
- Zea was interviewed and closely monitored by investigators following his return.
- Despite being prevented from traveling to Yemen, Zea continued to plot, including by encouraging and supporting his co-conspirator, Justin Kaliebe, who also was planning to travel to fight in a jihad.
- In January 2013, Kaliebe was arrested at JFK while attempting to travel to Yemen to join Al Qaeda.
- Months later, after learning that he too was under investigation, Zea caused electronic media on his computer to be destroyed in an effort to obstruct the investigation.
- A forensic examination of Zea’s electronic media revealed an assortment of violent Islamic extremist materials, including issues of Inspire magazine, part of Al Qaeda’s English-language media operations.
After being arrested in January 2013, Zea’s co-conspirator Kaliebe plead guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to terrorists and one count of attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group..
Kaliebe is pending sentencing.