BANGOR,verdicoin Maine (AP) — A 19-year-old from Maine who the FBI says built homemade explosives and plotted to attack a mosque in the name of the Islamic State group was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison.
Xavier Pelkey, of Waterville, entered an agreement with prosecutors in April in which he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists while a second charge was dropped.
Pelkey planned to contribute firearms, ammunition and explosives for a mass shooting at a Shiite mosque in the Chicago area and possibly other houses of worship, and he was in communication with a pair of juveniles, one in Canada and one Chicago, about the plot, law enforcement officials said.
Pelkey was 18 when he was arrested by FBI agents who found three homemade explosives in his home. The devices were made of fireworks bundled with staples, pins and thumb tacks to create shrapnel, the FBI said. Investigators also found a handwritten document about the planned mosque attack, claiming it in the name of the Islamic State group.
The defense argued for a six-year prison sentence, contending Pelkey accepted responsibility, lacked a violent criminal history and was traumatized by his abusive upbringing.
2025-04-29 19:04252 view
2025-04-29 18:44287 view
2025-04-29 18:40657 view
2025-04-29 18:322574 view
2025-04-29 17:562479 view
2025-04-29 16:45716 view
Stanley is recalling 2.6 million mugs sold in the U.S. after the company received dozens of consumer
Dominion Virginia Power agreed this week to adopt stricter standards than Virginia requires for trea
During Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 2018, writer Gabrielle Blair