By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-904332.mp3
Dallas, TX – 19 year old Jordanian Hosam Smadi has pleaded guilty to "attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction".
In September, Smadi tried to blow up a downtown Dallas building. The bomb, provided by undercover agents posing as AlQeada, was a dud.
Smadi's attorney, Peter Fleury says his client has been diagnosed "schizophrenic" by a Bureau of Prisons doctor, and is on medication. He says Smadi's mental illness does not excuse his actions, but could be a mitigating factor when it comes time for sentencing.
Fleury: Everybody that has met Hosam Smadi will tell you that he's a nice, kind, generous man. He's not political, and he's not very religious. And yet, he did this terrible thing.
Fleury says Smadi's is very remorseful. Sentencing will be in August. Smadi could get a maximum 30 years under a plea deal.