Canadian who plotted NYC terror attacks should spend life in prison: U.S. prosecutors

U.S. prosecutors are requesting a life sentence for a Canadian man who admitted to plotting terrorist attacks on New York City landmarks.

Twenty-year-old Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy of Mississauga, Ontario, pleaded guilty in 2016 to planning bombings and mass shootings at the request of a high-level member of the Islamic State group.

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His lawyers are asking for a minimal sentence that would see him released by his mid-twenties.

El Bahnasawy says in a letter to the court that he has suffered years of mental illness and substance abuse problems and now wants to live a stable life free of violence.

But prosecutors say he has used drugs several times while in jail and has scrawled pro-Islamic State messages on the wall of his cell.

They say his willingness to kill innocent civilians supports the case for a life sentence.

El Bahnasawy is scheduled to be sentenced in a New York court on April 9th.