Hispanic Pleads Guilty To Plotting Explosion In Miami

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A Honduran man from Miami pleaded guilty to plotting an explosion at Miami's Dolphin Mall on behalf of the Islamic State.

Vicente Adolfo Solano, 53, an immigrant who came to the United States in the late 1990s under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will plead guilty before a federal judge on Wednesday, as reported by the El Heraldo newspaper.

Court documents obtained by the publication indicate that Solano faces charges for trying to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.

According to the FBI, last October Solano worked with undercover agents who gave him fake explosives before arresting him. The Honduran was jailed outside the same mall after preparing a 40-minute stopwatch, which would give him time to put the bomb down and escape.

At a bail conference, FBI agent David Clancy that Solano's plan may have been generated by himself before he revealed it to his friend, who turned out to be an FBI informant. "Mr. Solano indicated on recordings (of the FBI) that the plans were his alone," Clancy said. "He was basically always on his own."

Public defender Alex Arteaga Gómez, a Solano attorney, said the man has led a “generally quiet, working-class life in the United States with no history of violent crime.

Judge Chris McAiley denied Solano bail after asserting that the video and audio recordings, plus his own confession, were sufficient evidence to be found guilty. Solano would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.