Nicholas Teausant, the National Guard reservist who was arrested last year for trying to blow up the Los Angeles subway, pleaded guilty to a federal terrorism charge for trying to join the Islamic State.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the 22-year-old former community college student was charged with trying to give material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
"This case, like others in communities across the United States and around the world, is an example of how a young person from any place and any background might make the terrible decision to try and become part of a terrorist organization," Benjamin B. Wagner, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, said in a written statement.
"Fortunately, the FBI intervened in this case before any harm could be inflicted upon innocent persons."
Teausant, a former student at San Joaquin Delta College, faces as many as 15 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for March 8.
Teausant was arrested in March 2014 in Washington state. According to federal officials, he planned to cross into Canada and join the Islamic State in Syria, but was apprehended after discussing his intentions with an FBI informant who was posing as a radical Islamist.
The affidavit stated that Teausant told the FBI informant that he and his friends discussed blowing up the Los Angeles subway system on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, a plan that was eventually called off. He also later told the informant and an undercover officer that he intended to join and fight with the "brothers" abroad.
Teausant allegedly possessed manuals on how to be a "lone wolf" terrorist and contributed frequently to online forums for would-be terrorists, according to FBI court documents from last year.
There have been a number of terrorism-related arrests in the United States in recent weeks. Last month, a 25-year-old Ohio resident who expressed support for the Islamic State was arrested for soliciting the murder of 100 U.S. military members. The week prior, four men were charged in Ohio for supporting now-deceased al Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki.
A report released Tuesday from George Washington University’s program on extremism said that the Islamic State has "unprecedented" support in the U.S. In the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris for which the terror group claimed responsibility, the Islamic State has threatened attacks in America.