Man from South Carolina pleads guilty to supporting the Islamic State terrorist group

A South Carolina man pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to provide the terrorist organization the Islamic State with material support, prosecutors said.

Kristopher Sean Matthews, 34, of San Antonio pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Chestney to a single conspiracy charge to provide IS with support.

In his plea, Matthews admitted to conspiring with Jaylyn Christopher Molina, 22, in Coast, Texas, since May of last year to share bomb-making information to create devices used in domestic and foreign terrorist attacks in the name of IS.

He also admitted to attempting to “radicalize and recruit” others to the terrorist organization, the Justice Department said in a release.

Agents with the FBI arrested the pair in September, KSAT reported.

They were charged by a federal grand jury indictment on Oct. 14.

According to court documents from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio, the FBI used undercover agents and confidential sources to monitor the pair and documented them discussing plans to conduct attacks, South Carolina’s The State reported.

The men had discussed conducting attacks on New York City’s Trump Tower and the stock exchange, among other high-profile locations.

Matthews is quoted in the court documents as having said if they could successfully conduct their attack they would achieve “rock star status.”

“This could be Netflix worthy,” he said, referring to the online television and movie streaming platform.

Matthews is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

Source: UPI