A Maine man was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, officials stated.
According to court documents, Xavier Pelkey, 20, of Waterville, pleaded guilty on April 7.
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Beginning in November 2021, Pelkey conspired with two minors, one located in Chicago and one in Canada, to conduct a mass shooting at a Shia mosque in the Chicago area.
Pelkey and his co-conspirators were subscribers to a radical form of Sunni Islam and supporters of the foreign terrorist organization the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Pelkey planned to contribute firearms, ammunition, and explosives to be used in the attack, according to authorities.
In February 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at Pelkey’s Waterville residence and discovered three handmade explosive devices. Investigators observed a hand-painted version of the flag used by ISIS on the wall of Pelkey’s bedroom.
They recovered written statements intended to be released just before the planned attack, claiming the attack was in the name of ISIS.
The FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig M. Wolff for the District of Maine and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.