US Attorney’s Office:

Teen Plotted To Assassinate Pope Francis During Philly Visit

Rasa - The New Jersey US Attorney’s Office said a New Jersey teenager plotted to assassinate Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia in 2015.

News ID: 428658

Date: 04 April 2017 - 21:59

RNA - The US Attorney’s Office said in a statement that 17-year-old Santos Colon Jr. of Lindenwold, New Jersey, pleaded guilty as an adult in Camden federal court on one count of attempting to provide material support to terrorists, CBS Philly reported.

According to court documents, Santos admitted that from June 30, 2015 to Aug. 14, 2015, he plotted to assassinate the pope during the papal visit to Philadelphia in September 2015.

Santos wanted to use a sniper to shoot the pope during mass and then set off explosives in the surrounding areas.

Officials say that Santos talked to someone he thought was a sniper, but was actually an undercover FBI employee. He then engaged in target reconnaissance with an FBI confidential source and told the source to purchase materials to make explosives.

Santos was arrested by FBI agents in 2015. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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