Farooque Ahmed, Plotting Attacks on D.C.-Area Metro Stations, Washington 2010

A Virginia man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for plotting to carry out bombings at Metrorail stations in the Washington, D.C., area.

Farooque Ahmed, 35, of Ashburn, Va., pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his attempts to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaeda in planning multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at Metrorail stations.

Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was arrested by the FBI on October 27, 2010. According to court records, from April 2010 through October 25, 2010, Ahmed attempted to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaeda in planning multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at Metrorail stations.

On April 18, 2010, he drove to a hotel in Dulles, Va., and met with a courier he believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization who provided Ahmed with a document that provided potential locations at which future meetings could be arranged.

U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride stated, “Mr. Ahmed today admitted he was determined to kill as many people as possible through multiple bombings at the heart of our nation’s capital.”

Ahmed was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Bruce Lee to 23 years in prison, followed by 50 years of supervised release.

The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride, Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

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