Chicago man Shaker Masri pleads guilty to planning to support terror group

July 30, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Twenty-eight year old Chicagoan Shaker Masri, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to planning to travel to Somalia in 2010 to join the terrorist organization al-Shabaab in jihad combat.

Masri, a former Gold Coast resident, was arrested nearly two years ago on charges that he was headed to a suicide mission.

While in custody at the Metro Correctional Center in Chicago, federal agents dug into his past. "He wanted to die killing others," say prosecutors, "an offense that could only be committed once -- dying as a suicide bomber...using himself as a weapon of mass destruction."

Masri's plea agreement calls for an agreed sentence of 118 months.

Attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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