Updated Friday morning:
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A federal judge has set a new sentencing date for a Kansas man who has admitted aiding a wannabe Islamic State jihadist’s plan to detonate what they thought was a bomb at a Kansas military post.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree on Thursday continued the sentencing hearing for Alexander Blair to Sept. 8.
The 29-year-old Topeka man has admitted his role in a foiled plan to kill or maim as many U.S. service members as possible at the Fort Riley in Kansas. He blames a genetic disorder for allowing others to take advantage of him.
Blair pleaded guilty in May to a conspiracy count that carries up to five years’ imprisonment. He admitted loaning John T. Booker $100 to pay for the storage of the device during an FBI sting.
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Updated Wednesday evening:
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge has delayed sentencing for a Kansas man who has admitted aiding a wannabe Islamic State jihadist’s plan to detonate what they thought was a bomb at Fort Riley.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree heard a psychologist testify Wednesday at the hearing for 29-year-old Alexander Blair. The U.S. attorney’s office says the judge wanted some time to go over the material before handing down a sentence.
No new sentencing date has been set.
Blair pleaded guilty in May to a conspiracy count that carries up to five years’ imprisonment. He admitted loaning John T. Booker $100 to pay for the storage of the device during an FBI undercover operation.
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WICHITA — A Topeka man faces sentencing for his role in a foiled plan to detonate a bomb at the Fort Riley military post to kill and maim as many U.S. service members as possible.
Alexander Blair has told the judge he made a big mistake and blames a genetic disorder for allowing others to take advantage of him.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree will weigh such factors Wednesday as he calculates how much prison time, if any, Blair should serve.
Blair pleaded guilty in May to a conspiracy count that carries up to five years’ imprisonment. He admitted loaning John T. Booker $100, knowing it would be used to pay for storage of a bomb Booker planned to detonate in April 2015 at Fort Riley.
During the plea hearing in May Blair admitted he conspired with co-defendant John T. Booker, Jr. also of Topeka. He’s quoted as saying “that’s what they signed up for” when asked about Booker’s plan for American service members to die in the bombing. During an investigation, law enforcement officers learned Blair loaned Booker money for the purpose of renting a storage unit to store components for a bomb, knowing Booker’s intent to detonate a bomb at Fort Riley and to “kill as many soldiers as possible.”
