Justin Kaliebe, of Babylon, New York, allegedly conspired with Marcos Alonso Zea, who was arrested on Friday, over charges that they were working to support al-Qaida.
Zea was the leader of the two, attempting to fly from New York to London, with the ultimate destination of Yemen, officials told NBC.
But agents in London turned him back and sent him to the United States, where upon his return he “turned to financing and inspiring another Long Island man’s commitment to global terror.”
That would be Kaliebe, a student at Babylon High School, who pleaded guilty in February to attempting to provide material support to terrorists.
Kaliebe was recorded saying he wanted to travel to Yemen to fight the Yemeni Army and kill “those who are fighting against the Sharia of Allah … whether it’s the U.S. drones or their puppets,” according to prosecutors.
When asked if he was afraid to die, Kaliebe responded “I wanna . . . . It’s what anyone would want, any believer would want.”
Kaliebe is at a federal psychiatric facility in North Carolina where government psychiatrists found him mentally competent, sources told Newsday; He has now hired his own psychiatrist to independently assess his mental capabilities.
He faces 30 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 6.
