WSJ: Man Sentenced to 17 Years In Model-Plane Terror Plot

The Wall Street Journal - US Watch - November 2, 2012

A Massachusetts man was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison in a plot to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 27 years old, pleaded guilty in July to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings with an explosive. As part of a plea agreement between prosecutors and Mr. Ferdaus's attorney, both sides agreed to recommend the 17-year sentence.

Mr. Ferdaus, a Muslim-American who grew up in Massachusetts and has a physics degree from Northeastern University, delivered a long statement in which he offered no apology for his actions. He didn't make any direct anti-American statements, but he did refer to "a world filled with injustices."

Mr. Ferdaus was arrested last year after federal employees posing as members of al Qaeda delivered materials he requested, including grenades, machine guns and plastic explosives.

Authorities have said the public was never in danger because the explosives were always under the control of federal agents.

A version of this article appeared November 2, 2012, on page A7 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: U.S. Watch.