Afghan national sentenced to 15 years for ISIS-inspired Election Day terror plot in Oklahoma

Abdullah Haji Zada, a 19-year-old lawful permanent resident of the United States and native of Afghanistan, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for plotting an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on Election Day in 2024. The sentence represents the statutory maximum for the terrorism-related firearms offenses to which he pleaded guilty.

According to federal court documents, Zada and co-conspirator Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 28, also a citizen of Afghanistan, obtained two AK-47–style rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition while knowing the weapons were intended to be used in a violent attack on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Both men were arrested in October 2024 before the plot could be carried out.

Senior Justice Department and FBI officials said the sentence underscores the gravity of the planned attack and the success of investigators in stopping it.

“Zada was welcomed into the United States and provided with all the opportunities available to residents of our Nation, yet he chose to embrace terrorism and plot an ISIS-inspired attack on Election Day,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. He added that Zada will be removed from the country after completing his sentence.

Assistant Director Donald Holstead of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division said the case highlights the Bureau’s core mission. “Detecting and preventing acts of terrorism against the American people is an essential part of the FBI’s mission.”

US Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma praised the swift work of federal and local law enforcement, noting that the sentence “reflects the gravity of the planned terrorist attack.”

Zada was 17 when he was arrested, but entered his guilty plea as an adult on April 17, 2025. As part of the plea agreement, he acknowledged that he would be deported to Afghanistan upon completion of his sentence and agreed to abandon any right to appeal his conviction, removal order, or any asylum claim.

US District Judge Scott L. Palk imposed the 15-year sentence at a hearing on Tuesday.

Tawhedi pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to two terrorism-related charges: providing material support to ISIS and conspiring to receive firearms to further a federal crime of terrorism. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the material support count and up to 15 years for the firearms offense. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. He, too, will be deported after serving any prison term.

The case was investigated by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes multiple federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Prosecutors from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma and the Justice Department’s National Security Division handled the prosecution.