By NAN Contributor
News Americas, MIAMI, Florida, Weds. April 19, 2017: A 23-year-old Cuban national will have to spend the rest of his life in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and for attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Harlem Suarez, aka “Almlak Benitez,” of Monroe County, Florida, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in Key West to life in prison for the weapon of mass destruction and a concurrent term of 20 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Suarez, a U.S. green card holder, was convicted at trial in Key West, Florida on January 27, of knowingly attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property within the U.S. and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
According to evidence introduced at trial, in April 2015, Suarez’s Facebook postings contained extremist rhetoric and promoted ISIS. Evidence further indicated that Suarez told an FBI confidential human source that he wanted to make a “timer bomb.”
Suarez purchased components for this device, which was to contain galvanized nails, be concealed in a backpack and be remotely detonated by a cellular telephone. Suarez intended to bury the device at a public beach in Key West and then detonate it.
