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Emanuel Lutchman,
26, of Rochester, was sentenced by Chief Judge Frank Geraci of
the federal court in that city, following his August 11 guilty
plea, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The prison term was the maximum possible, and Lutchman was also
sentenced to 50 years of supervised release. He has been in
custody since his Dec. 30, 2015 arrest.
A federal public defender representing Lutchman did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to his plea agreement, Lutchman admitted to having
bought a machete, knives, ski masks and other items for his
attack, in which he was prepared to kidnap or kill people, and
planned to later release a video explaining his actions.
The defendant also admitted to having conspired with Abu Issa
Al-Amriki, a now deceased member of Islamic State in Syria,
hoping that a successful attack would help him gain membership
into the group, the Justice Department said.
Lutchman had also expressed support for Islamic State on social
media, and gathered issues of Inspire, an online magazine
published by al Qaeda, designed to help people conduct "'lone
wolf' terrorist attacks" in the United States, the department
added.
The defendant was arrested soon after recording a video in which
he pledged allegiance to Islamic State, vowed to "spill the
blood" of non-believers, and asked Allah to "make this a
victory."
Lutchman's lawyer had sought a 10-year prison term.
In a court filing, he said Lutchman had since age 14 had
"extensive" mental health issues including bipolar disorder and
depression, and was easily influenced by radical Islam, but has
now "renounced" Islamic State and "seen its empty promise."
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio)
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