O.C. man admits to terrorism, plans to train Al Qaeda in Pakistan

A 24-year-old Orange County man pleaded guilty Friday to federal terrorism charges for planning to go to Pakistan where he would provide weapons training to members of Al Qaeda.

Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen of Garden Grove pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a plea agreement, Nguyen admitted that he went to Syria about a year ago to join opposition forces against the Bashar Assad regime.

“After he returned to the United States, Nguyen told associates that he had offered to train Al Qaeda forces in Syria, but his offer had been turned down,” according to a news release from the federal agency.

In the late summer and early fall of this year, an undercover FBI agent met with Nguyen, the release said. Nguyen told the agent he wanted to return to jihad.

In meetings between Nguyen and the FBI agent, the two discussed how Nguyen would go to Pakistan and train Al Qaeda fighters for a guerrilla attack on coalition forces.

Nguyen was arrested Oct. 11 after he went to a Santa Ana bus station to travel to Mexico, where he planned to catch a flight to Peshawar, Pakistan.

“When he was taken into custody, Nguyen had in his possession the false passport and a computer drive that contained” more than 180 training videos on shooting firearms, according to the justice department.

Nguyen is scheduled to be sentenced March 21.

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