New York woman sentenced to sixteen years for planning Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack

A 33-year-old woman from Queens has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for planning an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack in New York City.

Noelle Velentzas was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty with her co-defendant Asia Siddiqui in August of 2019 to charges of teaching or distributing information pertaining to the making and use of an explosive, destructive device or weapon of mass destruction, the Justice Department said Wednesday in a press release.

Siddiqui was sentenced in January of last year to 15 years in prison for her role in the plot.

According to court documents, the pair, who were roommates, planned from 2013 until the time of their arrest in 2015 to conduct a terrorist attack.

Prosecutor said they taught each other chemistry and electrical skills in order to create a bomb and detonating devices. They also purchased materials to be used in an explosive device and discussed bombs that were used during the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013, the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the bombing of Oklahoma City in 1995, the prosecutors said.

The charging documents detail that Velentzas expressed support for waging jihad while stating Osama bin Laden, the man responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City, was her hero while praising the destruction and death he wrought.

“The defendant expressed her support for foreign terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham by learning how to build bombs and other explosive devices and targeting members of law enforcement with terror,” Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko for the Easter District of New York said. “Today’s sentence imposes a just punishment on the defendant for her planned horrific crimes.”

Authorities said that when Velentzas and Siddiqui were arrested, propane gas tanks, soldering tools, car bomb instructions and jihadist literature, machetes and knives were found during a search of their apartment.

“With the sentence imposed by the court, Velentzas has been held accountable for her crimes,” said Attorney General John Demers of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

Source: UPI