Afghan man sentenced to 15 years in U.S. prison for plotting Election Day attack

Abdullah Haji Zada, a 19-year-old Afghan national living in the United States, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for plotting a Daesh-inspired attack planned for Election Day in November 2024, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.

According to federal prosecutors, Haji Zada and his co-conspirator, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 28, received two AK-47-style rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition, fully aware the weapons would be used in an attack on behalf of Daesh. The pair was arrested in October 2024 following an undercover investigation.

Haji “Zada was welcomed into the United States … yet he chose to embrace terrorism and plot an ISIS-inspired attack on Election Day,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. He added that the sentence, along with Haji Zada’s pending deportation to Afghanistan, underscores the seriousness of the crime.

Haji Zada, who was 17 when arrested, pleaded guilty as an adult on April 17, 2025. Under the plea agreement, he accepted a judicial order for his removal from the United States following his prison term and waived the right to seek asylum or appeal his deportation. U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk imposed the maximum 15-year sentence during the hearing.

His co-conspirator, Tawhedi, pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to providing material support to Daesh and conspiring to obtain firearms for an attack. He faces up to 20 years for the material-support charge and up to 15 years for the firearms charge. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

Both men will be permanently removed from the United States after completing their sentences.