An Idaho man gets 18 years in prison for an Islamic State support plot

News

An Idaho man gets 18 years in prison for an Islamic State support plot

2026-11-11 09:05 Last Updated At：09:21

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

Alexander Scott Mercurio, 21, pleaded guilty to the federal terrorism charge last month. U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced him Tuesday and said Mercurio would be placed on lifetime supervised release after completing his prison term.

Prosecutors said Mercurio had pledged his allegiance to IS and planned to attack churches in Coeur d'Alene on the group's behalf, using explosives, knives, firearms and other weapons. He was arrested by the FBI on April 6, 2024, one day before the planned attack, according to prosecutors.

Idaho U.S. Attorney John Shirts said the sentence “sends the clear message that where individuals intend to pursue acts of terrorism against the United States — whether in Coeur d'Alene, or any other community — they will be brought to justice.”

Mercurio's defense attorneys, Carter Powers Beggs and J. Stephen Roberts Jr. with the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho, declined to comment on the case. But in a court document, they described Mercurio as a depressed teen when he was arrested who was raised in a dysfunctional family that exposed him to white supremacist ideology at a young age.

Mercurio was dealing with family trauma and isolated from the outside world when he was befriended online by a government informant, his attorneys wrote. He had already bounced between multiple political ideologies by that time, ultimately embracing radical Islam when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, they said.

“Starting when he was just seventeen years old, Mr. Mercurio spent his days holed away in his basement bedroom, talking with his best friend about increasingly radical terrorist ideologies,” his attorneys wrote. “Together they brainstormed a plan that was as horrific as it was unlikely to succeed: a suicidal attack on local churches using his father's firearms and an untested improvised explosive/flamethrower.”

Mercurio has since renounced his extremist views, and has been assessed as a low risk of future danger, his attorneys said. They asked the judge to impose a sentence of nine years in prison.

According to court records, Mercurio created an online repository for pro-IS content and originally wanted to travel overseas to support the organization but lacked the money and resources to make the trip. Shortly before his arrest, he gave the informant an audio recording pledging his support for IS, along with a photo of himself holding a knife in front of an IS flag.

The Islamic State group, which the U.S. government designates a terror group, took control of a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014 and declared the territory to be a caliphate. The group had been largely defeated in both countries by 2018, but still has sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in both countries, and IS affiliates also operate in West Africa.

Hellebuyck says incidents 'more than online death threats' led him to ask the Jets to trade him

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Incidents that were “more than online death threats” cemented Connor Hellebuyck’s decision to ask for a trade from the Winnipeg Jets, he said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters there for the first time since being dealt to New Jersey on Oct. 23, the goaltender said his family experienced “a few moments that I don’t want to see happen again.” He added he wanted to keep the details of the incidents private.

“There was some moments and some things that happened to my family that, for me, crossed the line and as a husband and a father, I felt made that decision very certain," Hellebuyck said. "I needed to be a good husband and a good father and do what’s best for my family and my career.”

Hellebuyck backstopped the U.S. to men’s hockey gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February. In the aftermath, he attended a White House reception honoring the team, drawing criticism in Canada.

Asked if the fallout played a role in the backlash, Hellebuyck said: "I’m sure it did a little bit. I don’t think it matters if it’s fair or not."

“Those are accomplishments that I will never apologize for, and I will never speak negatively about,” the 33-year-old from Michigan said of his Olympic success. “I know the sensitivity about what’s going on between the U.S. and Canada, and I’ve never gotten into politics deep with anyone because I’m a hockey player.”

Hellebuyck said he still has a “strong emotional connection” to Winnipeg, and he doesn’t want what happened to reflect on the city as a whole.

“I grew up here," he said. “I made a lot of connections here. I don’t want anyone to think I don’t love it here.”

Winninpeg fans got the chance to show Hellebuyck how they felt. Loud boos rained down from the Canada Life Centre seats when he took to the ice for the Devils’ pre-game warmup. The Jets beat the Devils 4-2.

Hellebuyck said he was being honest about wanting to play for the Jets for his entire career when he signed a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension in October 2023. But he said a lot has changed since then, from his family’s comfort in Winnipeg to the team’s competitiveness.

“To the people who feel that I’ve been disloyal, well, there’s also a lot that I was not expecting to happen go on throughout this contract,” he said.

The Devils said Sunday night that Hellebuyck would not play against his former team on Tuesday night, citing a decline in their expected win probability. Hellebuyck has won all five starts he has made since the trade and said he spoke with coach Sheldon Keefe and general manager Sunny Mehta about the situation.

“I’m 14 days into a new team, and they handle their business differently than I’m used to,” Hellebuyck said. “When I went in there and said my piece and said I felt it was my duty to play this game and said ‘I want to play,’ I had a good conversation with (Keefe and Mehta), and I left that conversation understanding where they’re at.”

See AP’s full NHL coverage here