BROOKLYN — Two men, one of whom stabbed an FBI agent, pleaded guilty to conspiring with ISIS to conduct a terror attack in New York, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Queens resident Munther Omar Saleh, 21, is facing up to 53 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and assault in Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday. Co-conspirator Fareed Mumuni, 22, who attacked the agent with a kitchen knife in his Staten Island home, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy and attempted murder charges and is facing 85 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District.
“In the name of ISIL’s false and hateful ideology, these defendants attacked the law enforcement officers who work tirelessly to preserve the safety of our communities,” United States Attorney Robert Capers said in a statement.
“We are especially grateful that an FBI Special Agent survived the violent attack perpetrated by Fareed Mumuni, who repeatedly stabbed the agent in the chest during the execution of a search warrant in a terrorism investigation.”
Saleh and Mumuni plotted with five others to set off a pressure-cooker bomb in New York. They also worked to help one of the five conspirators, Nader Saadeh, travel to Jordan in an attempt to fight for ISIS.
Saadeh was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty in New Jersey federal court to supporting ISIS.
Saleh and another man were arrested on June 13, 2015 after they charged while holding knives at a federal agent who was surveilling them.
The Queens man then admitted to discussing an attack with Mumuni.
Agents executed a search warrant several days later on Mumuni’s Staten Island home.
After federal officers entered his Mersereau Avenue residence, Mumuni repeatedly stabbed an FBI agent in the torso, striking his protective body armor.
The agent suffered only minor injuries and Mumuni admitted after his arrest that he had planned to use a knife to attack law enforcement.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on May 16, 2017 before Judge Margo Brodie.
Neither of their lawyers was immediately available for comment.
