Sami Osmakac (born December 28, 1986) is an

Albanian American Albanian Americans ( sq, shqiptaro-amerikanët) are Americans of full or partial Albanian ancestry and heritage in the United States. They trace their ancestry to the territories with a large Albanian population in the Balkans among others to ...

convicted by a jury on June 10, 2014, following a criminal trial in U.S. District Court, of plotting terrorist attacks in and near

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

Background

Osmakac, an

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n and a

naturalized U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constit ...

, was arrested January 7, 2012, for his plot. He intended to bomb nightclubs, detonate a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

, fire an assault rifle, wear an

explosive belt An explosive belt (also called suicide belt or a suicide vest) is an improvised explosive device, a belt or a vest packed with explosives and armed with a detonator, worn by suicide bombers. Explosive belts are usually packed with ball bearings, ...

in a crowded area, and take hostages. Osmakac recorded an eight-minute video prior to his arrest describing the planned attack as retribution for wrongs committed against Muslims. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

claimed Osmakac bought explosives and firearms from an undercover agent. He had been under investigation since September 2011, when a confidential source informed federal authorities that Osmakac walked into a business seeking

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

flags. Osmakac appeared in videos posted to an extremist

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"''Abu Samia''", in which he condemned other religions and secular Muslims. Osmakac was kicked out of two mosques in the Tampa Bay area and reported to the FBI by a Muslim acquaintance. The FBI then set up a sting operation, supplying Osmakac, who could not even afford to fix the car he intended to drive, with money to purchase weapons and a video camera stolen from Best Buy to make his video. They gave money to Abdul Dabus, who was both Osmakac's employer and the

confidential source In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or knowledge other record or document that gives timely information. Outside journalism, sources are sometimes known as "news sources". Examples of sources include but are not limited to officia ...

that reported him, and had him instruct Osmakac to give the money to the undercover agent as a "down payment.". The agent then instructed Sami in the use of the fake weapons, and helped him plant a fake car bomb and arrange transport to a hotel where he was supposed to detonate a suicide vest. His brother, Avni, later remarked, "my brother was mentally ill. We were trying to get him help. The FBI got to him first."

Legal proceedings

During the trial, Osmakac's defense argued that the FBI took advantage of his radical Islamic beliefs, mental illness, and destitution to entrap him into trying to commit a crime. The court responded that, "A reduction to a defendant's sentence is only warranted, however, if the sting operation involved 'extraordinary misconduct.' United States v. Ciszkowski, 492 F.3d 1264, 1271 (11th Cir. 2007). The party raising the defense ... bears the 'burden of establishing that the government's conduct is sufficiently reprehensible.'" On November 5, 2014, Osmakac was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Osmakac attempted to appeal his sentence but the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

confirmed his conviction and sentence in 2017.

Background

Legal proceedings

References

Related media