Maalik Alim Jones, a 33 year old man, has pleaded guilty to three counts of terrorist acts. The first charge being conspiracy to provide material support to al-shabaab, conspiring to receive military training from al-shabaab and lastly possessing and using an AK-47 machine gun, rocket propelled grenades and other destructive devices.
According to a Manhattan U.S District court documents, Maalik traveled to Somalia in 2011 to train and fight under al-shabaab. He fought under specialized fighting force, known as Jaysh Ayman, that launched several attacks against the Kenyan government soldiers. The court also discovered two al-shabaab attack videos with which Maalik Alim featured in. Judge Paul G. Gardephe sentenced Jones to 35 years in prison and 5 years of parole under supervision.
Mr Jones was arrested on December 7,2015, as he tried to get a boat to travel to Yemen where he would join and fight with the Islamic State militant group.
Jaysh Ayman group is responsible for killing around 40 people 2014 attack on a hotel bar in Mpeketoni,Somalia, amongst several other attacks.
