Ex-Illinois Guard soldier gets 30 years for plot to attack comrades

CHICAGO — A former Illinois National Guard soldier was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday for his part in a thwarted plot to carry out a deadly attack against his fellow soldiers at an armory outside of Chicago.

Hasan Edmonds, 23, the former soldier, pleaded guilty, along with his 30-year-old cousin Jonas Edmonds, last year to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State terror group as part of a plot that included carrying out a massive attack against the post he was assigned to in Joliet, Ill.

Jonas Edmonds was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to federal agents when he was initially questioned.

In sentencing the cousins, U.S. District Judge John Lee charged that the Edmonds cousins, both Muslim converts who acknowledged they had been radicalized online, demonstrated "utter hatred and disdain for this country" with their actions. But Lee said that Hasan Edmonds deserved a longer sentence, because of the special trust that was bestowed on him because of his position as a U.S. soldier.

"You took an oath to safeguard the country, state and its residents," Lee told the younger of the two cousins as he sentenced him. "You betrayed your oath."

The former guardsman had helped his cousin devise a plan to attack a National Guard installation and told an undercover FBI agent that he planned to travel to the Middle East to join ISIL, according to prosecutors. Meanwhile, Jonas Edmonds had collected his cousin’s Army uniforms and planned to use them to gain access to the Joliet armory, where he would carry out the attack, prosecutors say.

Hasan Edmonds got on the FBI’s radar after he had an online conversation with an undercover agent who was posing as an Islamic State fighter in Libya. Authorities said Edmonds pledged loyalty to the terror group in his online conversation, and even gave the undercover agent advice on how to fight American troops.

Weeks after his cousin first communicated with the undercover agent, Jonas Edmonds contacted the same agent and asked him for advice on how he and Hasan Edmonds could travel to an area in Iraq controlled by ISIL to join the group. Jonas Edmonds also also told the agent that he was prepared to carry out an attack in the U.S. if he was unable to travel overseas.

The agent in turn introduced Edmonds to a second undercover FBI employee who he said could help him. Jonas Edmonds eventually met the second FBI official in person and discussed helping Hasan Edmonds travel overseas.

Hasan Edmonds bought a ticket to Egypt about a week after his cousin’s meeting with the undercover FBI employee. Both cousins later met with the undercover FBI employee together and revealed Jonas Edmonds' plan to attack the Army installation where Hasan Edmonds was assigned after the guardsman had left the country, prosecutors said.

The following day the cousins and the undercover FBI employee drove to the installation to conduct surveillance.

During their conversation, prosecutors said Hasan Edmonds advised his cousin and the undercover agent on times when his unit would least likely be armed. He also advised his cousin to first shoot at officers, and walked him through how to identify who were the most high-ranking by the insignia on their uniforms and where they would be standing in formation during drills. In secretly recorded video shown in court, Edmonds could be seen coolly advising that if the soldiers are wearing protective armor that it will take multiple shots to compromise it.

At one point, he suggests that his cousin stage an extra gunman to their proposed team of attackers who could wait back near an exit, where he thought his fellows soldiers might try to escape.

“[T]he first person to take the reins is going to be the first sergeant,” Hasan Edmonds said in the recordings. “And then if he steps off, it’s gonna be the company commander. Out of the way. That’s the head. Kill the head, body follows.”

The day after the cousins surveilled the military installation Hasan Edmonds was arrested by FBI agents shortly after his cousin and another person dropped him off at Midway International Airport. Prosecutors said he had a ticket to fly to Cairo via Detroit.

Authorities say Jonas Edmonds went to Hasan Edmonds' home immediately after dropping his cousin at the airport and retrieved several of his uniforms.

Jonas Edmonds briefly addressed the court and acknowledged making mistakes but insisted that the undercover agents "enticed" and "encouraged" him to make incriminating statements. His attorney, Jim Graham, also said the Edmonds cousins never intended to carry out the plot. They had not even acquired weapons needed, and no date for carrying out the attack had been set.

"Before the FBI agents, there was no conspiracy," Edmonds insisted. "I am clearly not the person they are making me out to be."

DOJ: Guardsman, cousin charged with supporting ISIL

Judge Lee dismissed the notion and noted that the elder Edmonds, who was convicted of a 2004 armed robbery, had the wherewithal to quickly acquire weapons for the planned attack.

Two soldiers who served with Hasan Edmonds testified at the hearing. They said the young man was a popular member of their unit, and his betrayal is still hard to comprehend.

"I felt literally speechless and felt betrayed by someone I would have entrusted my life with," said Staff Sgt. Colleen Cummings, recalling her reaction learning of Edmonds arrest.

Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Sherman addressed Edmonds directly during the sentencing and called his former soldier "naive" for falling for ISIL propaganda.

Sherman also told Edmonds that soon after the failed plot, a new young Muslim soldier joined the unit. The unit did not hesitate in fully embracing the new soldier as part of the team.

"Your plan to instill hatred in Islam failed," Sherman said. "We are better than you."

Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad