Mass. man to plead guilty in plot to blow up Pentago

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man charged with plotting to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol plans to plead guilty to two charges, his lawyers and prosecutors said in a plea agreement filed in federal court today.

Rezwan Ferdaus, a Muslim-American from Ashland with a physics degree from Boston's Northeastern University, was arrested in September after federal employees posing as al-Qaida members delivered materials he had allegedly requested, including grenades, machine guns and what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosives.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors and Ferdaus' lawyers say Ferdaus will plead guilty to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings by means of an explosive. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed to request a 17-year sentence.

Under the agreement, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss four other charges.