NORTH BERGEN AND BEYOND — A federal judge in Newark has delayed the sentencing of Mohamed Alessa, 22, North Bergen, as well as Carlos Almonte, 25, Elmwood Park, according to the Associated Press. The two men face up to life in prison after admitting last March that they planned to join an armed Islamic group in Somalia to wage holy war against non-Muslims.
Alessa and Almonte were arrested on June 5 of last year at John F. Kennedy International Airport before boarding separate planes to Egypt. An undercover police officer fluent in Arabic had recorded the men allegedly talking about killing Americans, law enforcement officials said. The new sentencing date has been set as March 20.
Both men are currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the Record reports. — Stephen LaMarca