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FILE – This 2018 booking file, provided by the County of Collin County Attorney's Office in Texas, shows Matin Azizi-Yarand, a Plano (Texas) teenager charged with criminal solicitation for aggravated murder and terrorist threats. According to the Collin County Prosecutor's Office, Azizi-Yarand had planned to publish a "Message to America" explaining the attack. The authorities claim that he spent more than $ 1,400 to buy weapons and tactical equipment, and that he had tried to recruit other people to help him carry out a shot planned. (Collin County Attorney's Office via AP, File)
DALLAS – A teenager from the Dallas suburbs pleaded guilty to planning a mass shot inspired by an Islamic State group in a North Texas mall.
A state judge on Monday sentenced Azizi-Yarand to 20 years in prison for soliciting death and uttering a terrorist threat, federal and US prosecutors said. The 18-year-old is eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
Azizi-Yarand was arrested last May for planning to shoot civilians and police at a Frisco shopping center in a government-ridden meeting place. Authorities said it was about to coincide with Ramadan. EI called on its supporters to carry out attacks during the holy month of Muslims.
The high school student of the time had recruited other people to participate in the shooting and planned to explain it by the publication of a "Message to America", according to the prosecutors . He spent more than $ 1,400 to buy weapons and tactical equipment, and monitored the mall.
Azizi-Yarand believes that his plea agreement is a "fair deal" and is ready to begin his jail sentence, said his attorney, Mitch Nolte, to the Associated Press.
Azizi-Yarand was indicted in July, but his age was a challenge for prosecutors.
Terrorism cases are usually brought before federal courts. But since Azizi-Yarand was 17 at the time of the crime and was a minor under federal law, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas was limited in the charges he could bring against him.
It is "extremely rare" for someone to be prosecuted for terrorism charges, US Attorney Joseph Brown said Monday at a news conference.
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