Wannabe jihadist, 22, is jailed for 16 years for planning to build a pressure cooker bomb to ‘kill as many people as possible’ in New York on behalf of ISIS
- Gregory Lepsky, 22, was jailed for 16 years in a federal courtroom in Trenton, New Jersey on Friday
- Lepsky took a plea deal in 2018 admitting to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization
- He was arrested in 2017 for allegedly stabbing his family’s dog
- Police who arrested him found a pressure cooker in his home and digital evidence of a plan to detonate a bomb on behalf of ISIS
- Investigators say Lepsky was planning to blow up a populous part of New York City in order to kill ‘as many people as possible’
- After his arrest, Lepsky was taken to hospital, where he was heard telling an employee he was ‘working for ISIS,’ and his name was Allah Abdel Rochmad
A wannabe jihadist who planned to build a pressure cooker bomb to kill ‘as many people as possible’ in New York City in support of ISIS was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison on Friday.
Gregory Lepsky, 22, of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, said little during his hearing inside a Trenton federal courtroom, responding to U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp’s questions with only ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers, according to NJ.com.
Lepsky pleaded guilty on March 13, 2018 to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
His plea agreement had called for a sentence of 16 to 19 years. The judge also sentenced him to a lifetime of supervised release when he’s out.
He originally was arrested on February 21, 2017 for stabbing his family’s dog.
Gregory Lepsky, 22, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday for a pressure cooker bomb plot to blow up as many people as possible in New York City
During that arrest, police who searched Lepsky’s home found a brand new pressure cooker behind a roll of bubble wrap in his bedroom closet.
Investigators later searched Lepsky’s computers where they found digital evidence of a plan to build and detonate a bomb.
‘Lepsky admitted that he used the internet to access ISIS directives, obtain bomb-making instructions, and purchase the pressure cooker and other items to be used in the attack,’ the Department of Justice said after Lesky’s 2018 plea deal.
After his arrest, Lepsky was taken to a local hospital, where police said they heard him tell an employee that he was ‘working for ISIS,’ and his name was Allah Abdel Rochmad.
Gregory Lepsky was arrested at his home in Point Pleasant Borough on February 21, 2017 for stabbing his family’s dog
Lepsky’s internet history showed he’d searched for items to launch a terrorist attack in New York City and had pledged his allegiance to ISIS
Additional internet searches also showed Lepsky had researched the kinds of knives ISIS terorrists had used to behead people before purchasing a knife of his own online
Further searches of his computers and digital devices revealed Lepsky pledged allegiance to ISIS and discussed traveling to Syria to fight with his ‘brothers.’
Authorities said Lepsky told other individuals on social media that he planned to become a martyr by driving a ‘bunch of explosives’ to locations where the ‘enemies’ could be found where he would then blow himself up.
He had been researching ISIS and extremist groups throughout the month of January in 2017.
Another web search revealed Lepsky had researched the kinds of knives used in ISIS beheading videos before purchasing a knife of his own online.
He also had read an extremist magazine article containing step-by-step instructions for building a homemade bomb, including a list of supplies to be used.
Lepsky isn’t the only New Jersey man who’s tried to kill New Yorkers with a pressure cooker bomb in recent years.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi was sentenced to life in prison on February 13, 2018 for the tri-state bomb plot that resulted in a total of 31 people being injured, but no fatalities in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and Seaside Park, New Jersey.