Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen of Garden Grove, California, pleaded guilty to charges of trying to help al-Qaida after being arrested in October while travelling to Pakistan to train soldiers, Reuters reported.
The Southern California man pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles Federal court on Friday to one count of attempting to provide material support to al Qaida, according to Reuters,
Nguyen worked as a security guard in Garden Grove and used the name Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum. He was arrested in October near Santa Ana while he was on a bus to Mexico, according to the FBI, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Thom Mrozek from the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said he also admitted to traveling to Syria last year where he joined President Bashar al-Assad forces and made a "confirmed kill," Reuters reported.
In the time between Aug. 3 and Oct. 11, Nguyen met with an undercover FBI agent who he believed to be an al-Qaida recruiter, according to Reuters.
During the encounters, the two devised a plan for Nguyen to go to Pakistan to train 30 al-Qaida fighters over the course of several weeks so the fighters could attack "coalition forces" comprised of U.S. forces and allies, according to Reuters.
Nguyen told the undercover FBI agent during the meetings about his exploits in Syria, saying he wanted to return to jihad because "this was what he was born to do," according to the plea agreement, CBSr reported.
Before Nguyen was arrested, he had bought a plane ticket from Mexico to Peshawar, Pakistan, and was arrested with a fake passport and a computer hard drive with more than 180 training videos about shooting guns, the U.S. Attorney's office said, according to Reuters.
Nguyen has been held in custody since his arrest and will return to court on March 21, Reuters reported. If convicted he could face 15 years maximum sentence in prison.
