The so-called "Underwear Bomber" pleaded guilty this week in a Michigan court to attempting to blow up a commercial airline flight on Christmas Day in 2009. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is a 25-year-old Nigerian who was caught on a flight from Amsterdam to the United States on December 25, 2009 after the explosives he had been wearing in his undergarments did not fully detonate. Instead of exploding as intended, the devices caused a fireball and the airplane was forced to make an emergency landing in Detroit, Michigan. Federal law enforcement officials in the United States believe the foiled plot was the work of Al-Qaeda. The plot triggered stricter passenger screening procedures at airports within the country, as well as for international flights bound for the U.S. The incident also made U.S. intelligence agencies look terrible as Abdulmutallab's father, who is a prominent Nigerian banker, had actually contacted intelligence agencies to warn them of his son's growing Islamic fanaticism. Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to eight different counts of terrorism, and if convicted on all counts, could be sent to a federal prison for life without the possibility of parole. In a statement read aloud in court, Abdulmutallab stated that his actions were in retaliation for U.S. foreign policy in Islamic nations and that as such, while illegal under U.S. laws, his actions were righteous under the Koran.

As any Los Angeles Federal Criminal Attorney will tell you, the United States government takes threats to the lives of its citizens very, very seriously. As such being charged with terrorism is a serious criminal offense that an experienced Los Angeles Federal Criminal Attorney can tell you might put you in jail for a minimum of 10 years. If you have been charged with a federal crime such as terrorism, call the offices of Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP today to speak to an experienced Los Angeles Federal Criminal Attorney about your case. Our attorneys have over fifty years of combined experience in successfully defending people in federal courts against criminal charges of all types and we know how to build a defense that will work for you. A knowledgeable Los Angeles Federal Criminal Attorney can tell you, for instance, that terrorism charges are typically any crimes that are normally illegal under U.S. laws, but that have the added intention of intimidating or coercing a civilian population, or that attempt to influence the policy or conduct of the government through means of mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. Call today at 1-877-781-1570 to speak to an experienced and capable Los Angeles Federal Criminal Attorney about your case.