Man charged with trying to join terrorist group
CENTRAL ISLIP, New York — For 25 years Marcos Alonso Zea lived in America, working most recently as a clerk at a home improvement store on New York’s Long Island.
But federal authorities have arrested the U.S.-born man, charging him with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, attempting to support terrorists and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and obstruction of justice.
Zea, who nodded at his par- ents as he was escorted into the courtroom at his arraignment Friday, pleaded not guilty and was detained without bail.
“Despite being born and raised in the United States, Zea allegedly betrayed his country and attempted to travel to Yemen to join a terrorist organization and commit murder,” U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said.
Federal prosecutors accused Zea of planning to travel overseas to wage violent jihad on the perceived enemies of Islam, including Yemen’s secular government.
They said he flew to London en route to Yemen in January to join Ansar al-Sharia, which the U.S. has declared an alias for alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula area.
But he was rejected by customs officials in the United Kingdom and returned to the United States.
Once home, Zea continued participating in the conspiracy, providing money and instructing co-conspirator Justin Kaliebe on how to evade electronic surveillance by law enforcement as he discussed Kaliebe’s plans to fight jihad, according to court papers.