Ohio man to be arraigned on federal terrorism charges
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, a U.S. citizen, will be arraigned in Ohio on federal terrorism charges Friday.
The Justice Department says Mohamud, 23, trained with Islamic militants in Syria and was instructed to return to America and commit acts of terrorism, something former FBI agent and "Headgame" author Phillip Mudd said made him more of a threat than the typical homegrown terrorist, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.
"The concern you got to have in this case is not only that somebody can come home again after traveling overseas to fight, but what kind of sophistication or training might people like this have received overseas?" Mudd said.
According to the indictment, Mohamed, a naturalized American citizen from Somalia, said he wanted to go to a military base in Texas and kill three or four soldiers execution style.
His backup plan was allegedly to attack a prison, although he was still trying to recruit a second person for his plot when he was arrested.
"This case shows you how much the world of counterterrorism is changing," Mudd said.
The indictment alleges Mohamud traveled to Syria one year ago -- flying to Turkey and then crossing the border to join his brother who was already fighting for the radical Islamic group al-Nusra Front, al Qaeda's branch in Syria.
There he received training in weapons, explosives, breaking and entering and hand-to-hand combat, but before he could get to the front lines, Mohamud was recruited by a cleric to return to the U.S. to carry out an attack.
"The intelligence game is halfway through now. That is the game that allowed us to find him and maybe map his network," Mudd said. "Here is a second half of this intelligence game we got to look at: Does he tell you something that gives you clues you weren't aware of before?"
Mohamud was arrested last February on state charges in Ohio and held on a million dollars bail so he could not flee the country while the Justice Department prepared federal charges against him.
His attorneys said he will plead not guilty. If convicted Mohamud faces a maximum sentence of 38 years in prison.