US Capitol plot suspect pleads guilty

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

A man accused of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol in support of the Islamic State group during President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address pleaded guilty Monday to three federal charges.

Federal prosecutors dropped a fourth count and said they would seek a maximum of 30 years in prison at the Oct. 31 sentencing hearing for 22-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell. U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith cautioned Cornell that she could reject the plea agreement depending on the findings of a presentencing report.

FBI agents arrested Cornell in the parking lot of a gun shop in suburban Cincinnati, saying he had just bought two M-15 semi-automatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition.