Colon’s involvement in the attempted killing occurred in September 2015 while he was on a trip to a Philadelphia papal mass.
Colon plead guilty before US District Court Judge Noel L. Hillman in a federal court in Camden, according to reports from the Department of Justice. Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord and acting US Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced the plea on Monday.
Along with plotting to kill the pontiff when he visited Philadelphia, Colon, who took the name "Ahmad Shakoor," also admitted to conspiring with jihadis to plant bombs around the city between late June and mid-August 2015. Prosecutors have not yet revealed his motive.
A DOJ Press release said, "Colon engaged someone he believed would be the sniper, but in reality was an undercover FBI employee. Colon engaged in target reconnaissance with an FBI confidential source and instructed the source to purchase materials to make explosive devices. FBI agents arrested Colon in 2015."
Colon’s plea agreement includes avoiding charges of "attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (Daesh) between April and August in 2015," or "attempting to obtain and use a weapon of mass destruction."
His guilty plea still earned him up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, however.
