MIAMI (AP) _ A federal jury has convicted a man of a plot to detonate a bomb on a Florida Keys beach that prosecutors said was inspired by Islamic State extremists.
Court records show the jury in Key West convicted 25-year-old Harlem Suarez on Tuesday of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization. Suarez faces a maximum of life in prison at sentencing set for April 18.
Suarez was arrested in 2015 after accepting an inert device from an FBI employee posing as an extremist, an FBI affidavit says. The FBI adds Suarez told an informant he wanted to detonate a backpack bomb on a Key West beach. Prosecutors say Suarez drew inspiration from the Islamic State. Suarez denied that in his trial testimony.