Cholo Abdi Abdullah Sentenced to Life in Prison for Conspiring to Commit 9/11-Style Terrorist Attack on Behalf of Al-Shabaab

Cholo Abdi Abdullah was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison following his conviction for multiple crimes that included conspiring to provide — and providing — material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, commit aircraft piracy, destroy aircraft, and commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Today’s sentencing followed Abdullah’s conviction after a jury trial that concluded on Nov. 4, 2024.

“Today, justice has been served,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Abdullah, an al-Shabaab terrorist, sought to replicate the most horrific terrorist attack in our history, as he prepared to hijack a commercial airliner to take down a building on U.S. soil. We thwarted this plot due to the relentless efforts of U.S. law enforcement and thereby likely saved many innocent lives. His life sentence is a powerful reminder that those who plot attacks against the United States will be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Cholo Abdi Abdullah was a highly trained al-Shabaab operative who was dedicated to recreating the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks on behalf of a vicious terrorist organization,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Abdullah pursued his commercial pilot license at a flight school in the Philippines while conducting extensive attack planning on how to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a building in America. As he later admitted to the FBI, he was fully prepared to die in his terrorist attack. I commend the years of outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the career prosecutors of this Office who disrupted Abdullah’s murderous plot and brought him to face justice in a U.S. court. He will now spend [decades] behind bars, where he will not be able to harm innocent Americans.”

Read more: Department of Justice