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The eight men were arrested in July two weeks before the
Games opened in Rio de Janeiro, raising fears of an attack on
the global sports event. Authorities said they were a loosely
organized group of amateurs barely connected by social media.
The leader of the group, Leonid el Kadre de Melo, 33, was
convicted of recruitment with aim of practicing acts of
terrorism and was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months in prison.
The other seven were convicted of criminal association and
promoting a terrorist organization and sentenced to six years
and five months in prison.
Brazilian government officials said the group had not met in
person, lacked funding and did not actually have contact with
Islamic State, though they had tried to purchase guns.
Evidence in the sentencing included photos of members of the
group posing with black Islamic State flags and a chat page
discussion on how to make a bomb using charcoal, fertilizer and
sulfur.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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