ST PAUL, Minn. — A Pakistani doctor and former Mayo Clinic research coordinator pleaded guilty Tuesday to a terrorism charge, more than two years after he was arrested for telling paid FBI informants that he pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State group and that he wanted to carry out "lone wolf" attacks in the U.S.
According to online court records, Muhammad Masood pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. A sentencing date has not been set.
Prosecutors say Masood was in the U.S. on a work visa. They alleged that starting in January of 2020, Masood made several statements to paid informants — whom he believed were members of the Islamic State group — pledging his allegiance to the group and its leader.
Prosecutors said Masood expressed his desire to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS and a desire to carry out lone wolf attacks in the U.S.
Officials say in Masood originally booked a flight from Chicago to Amman, Jordan on Feb. 21 for a flight that was planned for mid March. That flight was cancelled due to border closures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Masood then made a plan with one of the informants to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles where he thought he would be aided in fleeing via cargo ship into Islamic State Territory.
Masood was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport before the plan was able to go through.
The Mayo Clinic has previously confirmed that Masood was a former employee at the medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, but was not employed by the clinic at the time of his arrest. A LinkedIn page for a man with the same name as Masood was said to have worked at the southern Minnesota hospital since February of 2018.
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