Crime and Courts

New York City Woman Sentenced for Role in Planning Terrorist Attack in United States

Noelle Velentzas was sentenced to more than a decade behind bars for teaching and distributing information on weapons of mass destruction

What to Know

  • A 33-year-old Queens woman was sentenced to more than a decade behind bars for her role in planning a terrorist attack in the United States, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
  • Noelle Velentzas was sentenced to 16 ½ years in prison after she and her co-defendant, Asia Siddiqui, pleaded guilty in August 2019 to teaching or distributing information pertaining to the making and use of an explosive, destructive device or weapon of mass destruction.
  • When Velentzas and Siddiqui were arrested in 2015, law enforcement officers searched their residences and found tools of the trade for a terrorist attack, including propane gas tanks, soldering tools, car bomb instructions and jihadist literature, machetes and knives, prosecutors say.

A 33-year-old Queens woman was sentenced to more than a decade behind bars for her role in planning a terrorist attack in the United States, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Noelle Velentzas was sentenced to 16 ½ years in prison after she and her co-defendant, Asia Siddiqui, pleaded guilty in August 2019 to teaching or distributing information pertaining to the making and use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Mark Lesko, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division John Demers, Assistant Director-in-Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office William F. Sweeney, Jr. and NYPC Commissioner Dermot F. Shea jointly announced. Siddiqui was sentenced in January 2020 to 15 years’ imprisonment.

According to prosecutors, between approximately 2013 and 2015, Velentzas and Siddiqui taught each other chemistry and electrical skills related to creating explosives and building detonating devices. They allegedly studied the explosives used in past terrorist attacks including the Boston Marathon bombing, the Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center attack and researched how to make plastic explosives and build car bombs. Additionally, according to prosecutors, the duo shopped for and acquired materials to be used in an explosive device, and assessed potential targets of an attack, focusing on law enforcement and military-related targets.

While engaging in these activities, Velentzas repeatedly expressed her support for promoting and waging violent jihad and her desire to commit acts of violence, prosecutors say, adding that she claimed that Osama bin Laden was her hero, and expressed praise for the 9/11 attacks as well as Mohammed Shnewer, who was convicted of plotting a terrorist attack against members of the armed services at New Jersey's Fort Dix.

When Velentzas and Siddiqui were arrested in 2015, law enforcement officers searched their residences and found tools of the trade for a terrorist attack, including propane gas tanks, soldering tools, car bomb instructions and jihadist literature, machetes and knives, prosecutors say.

“The defendant expressed her support for foreign terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham by learning how to build bombs and other explosive devices and targeting members of law enforcement for terror. Today’s sentence imposes a just punishment on the defendant for her planned horrific crimes,” Lesko said in a statement.

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