"The various conversations detail the defendants' plans to travel overseas to attend terrorist training, as well as to kill American soldiers and others," the FBI detailed in a statement released Monday night.
The four men — each charged with five felony counts, including the bombing of government facilities and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure Americans using weapons of mass destruction — appeared in federal court Monday afternoon, Nov. 19.
They are: Soheil Omar Kabir, 34, a Pomona man who is an American citizen from Afghanistan; Ralph Deleon, 23, an Ontario man who was born in the Philippines; Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, 21, an Upland man who was born in Mexico and whose was U.S. citizenship was pending; and Arifeen David Gojali, 21, of Riverside.
Three of the men — Deleon, Gojali and Santana — were arrested Friday by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Kabir was arrested in Afghanistan. The details of their arrests were unavailable Monday.
FBI officials in a federal complaint said Kabir introduced Deleon and Santana in 2010 to radical Islamic doctrine and violent extremist materials. The three men followed the essays of the now-deceased al-Qaida leader Anwar Al-Awlaqi, who led terrorist operations in the Arabian Peninsula.
Federal authorities in the complaint said Kabir traveled overseas in December and again to Afghanistan in June, where he arranged to meet with Santana and Deleon. The federal complaint said Kabir told Santana and Deleon he was working with terrorist organizations and he would wait for them to arrive in Afghanistan to begin training.
Santana and Deleon told the plot to a confidential informant working for the FBI, according to the complaint. The informant said they planned to go to Afghanistan to launch "a violent jihad," according to FBI officials.
According to the complaint, Santana told the FBI informant that he had experience with firearms and wanted to become a sniper. Deleon said "he wanted to be on the front lines with a second choice of explosives."
In September, Deleon and Santana recruited Gojali to travel overseas to launch their jihadist attack, according to the complaint. The three men were planning to meet Kabir in Afghanistan for terrorist training. They had made flight arrangements and documentation for international travel.
In order to make the trip, the men raised money and discussed various cover stories and code words to conceal their plot while traveling abroad, according to the FBI complaint. They also trained in Southern California shooting ranges and paintball courses to prepare for their attack, the complaint said.
Santana and Deleon are set to return to court Monday, Nov. 26.
If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.
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