Two Men from New Jersey found Guilty for attempting to Join Al Qaeda Group

On Thursday (03/03/2011), Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte entered into a packaged plea deal in a Newark federal courtroom.
They confessed that they plotted to slay, wound and abduct persons outside the United States in order to join al-Shabab, a designated terrorist organization. Alessa is a 21 year old North Bergen who was born in the United States and his father is a Palestinian immigrant. Almonte is a 24 year old, from Elmwood Park, is a citizen who was born in the Dominican Republic. But the Almonte and Alessa are muslims. The charges might hold a life in prison, however under the terms of the plea agreement, they may they may face 15 to 30 years at their June sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement "Through covert recordings and their admissions today, Alessa's and Almonte's own words confirm they took steps down a deadly path," Thursday. He also said “The defendants planned and trained for a mission that began in their New Jersey neighborhoods and would end with the murder of innocent civilians."

This New Jersey case is one of the first to tie both Anwar al-Awlaki, an American cleric and Al Qaeda operative in Yemen, and Omar Hammami, an American-born member of al-Shabab, to a single plot. Prosecutors claim that Alessa and Almonte were motivated while listening to videos from both Awlaki and al-Shabab.
The case is also another instance of a new generation of digital Islamic wars, who take their motivation from the web and do not have direct private contact with Islamic activist.