NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Moroccan man who authorities say talked about flying drones with bombs into a federal building in Hartford and Harvard University is facing sentencing.
El Mehdi Semlali Fathi is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court in New Haven. He pleaded guilty in July to perjury in connection with a refugee application.
Federal prosecutors want a five-year prison sentence, while Fathi’s lawyer has asked for 15 to 21 months in prison.
Authorities say Fathi was in the U.S. after his student visa expired in 2009 after he flunked out of Virginia International University. Officials say Fathi was facing deportation to Morocco when he made false statements in seeking political asylum in the U.S.
Prosecutors say Fathi’s guilty plea to perjury played a role in his avoiding a terrorism charge.
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