Two NJ Men Sentenced in Somalia Terror Case

Two New Jersey men have been sentenced for their admitted roles in trying to join an armed Islamic group in Somalia with ties to al-Qaida.

A federal judge in Newark on Monday sentenced Mohamed Alessa of North Bergen to 22 years in prison, and Carlos Almonte of Elmwood Park to a 20-year prison term.

The two men, both in their 20s, pleaded guilty in March 2011 to conspiring to murder people outside the U.S. by trying to join al-Shabab, a designated terrorist organization.

Attorneys for the two men sought to portray them as troubled youths spurred to radicalism under the influence of a man who was an undercover police informant.

Federal prosecutors asked the judge to give them sentences lengthy enough to send a message to other would-be home-grown terrorists.

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