Illinois National Guardsman ordered held in base attack plot case

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[March 31, 2015]  By Fiona Ortiz
 
 CHICAGO (Reuters) - A National Guardsman charged with plotting an attack on an Illinois military installation as part of a conspiracy to support Islamic State was ordered to remain in custody on Monday after his bond hearing was postponed.

An attorney for Chicago-area resident Hasan Edmonds, a 22-year-old Army National Guard Specialist, asked a federal magistrate judge at a hearing for more time to put together arguments for why Edmonds should get bail. Judge Sheila Finnegan agreed to postpone the hearing, and decided to keep Edmonds in custody in the meantime.

Federal prosecutors said Edmonds, who was arrested on Wednesday, planned to carry out an armed attack on the military facility where he had been training in Joliet, 34 miles (55 km) southwest of downtown Chicago, with the help of Jonas Edmonds, his 29-year-old cousin.

Jonas Edmonds also was arrested and charged.

 

The plan was for Hasan Edmonds to leave the United States and join Islamic State fighters - he was arrested at Chicago's Midway airport as he tried to fly to Egypt - while Jonas Edmonds carried out the attack, according to an affidavit attached to the criminal complaint.

The cousins were arrested after discussing their plans with an undercover FBI employee.

Finnegan said Edmonds' attorney Paul Flynn can request the bond hearing when he is ready. A preliminary hearing, where the prosecution will have to present its evidence against him, is set for April 6.

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As a member of the Illinois National Guard since 2011, Hasan Edmonds reported to the guard's Joliet base one weekend a month and annually did two weeks of active duty training. He lived in Aurora, about 41 miles (66 km) southwest of Chicago.

The cousins face maximum penalties of 15 years in prison and fines of $250,000 if convicted.

(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Mary Wisniewski, Lisa Lambert and Eric Walsh)

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