Accused Pentagon Shooter Melaku Pleads Guilty
Source: Associated Press
Accused Pentagon Shooter Melaku Pleads Guilty
By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. January 26, 2012 (AP)
An ex-Marine from Virginia pleaded guilty Thursday and has agreed to serve a 25-year prison sentence on charges that he fired a series of overnight pot shots in 2010 at the Pentagon, the Marine Corps museum in Quantico and other military targets as part of what prosecutors called a campaign to strike fear throughout the region.
Prosecutors also revealed Thursday new details about Yonathan Melaku's intended next target: Arlington National Cemetery, where he was arrested before he was able to carry out a plan to deface gravestones there.
As part of Thursday's plea deal, Melaku, 24, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to destruction of U.S. property, use of a firearm in an act of violence and intention to injure a veterans' memorial, namely the cemetery. Prosecutors and Melaku's lawyer agreed to a 25-year sentence as part of the deal, and U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee said he would agree to the sentence as well.
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