BOSTON, Nov 1: A US man was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison in a plot to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and US Capitol.    

Rezwan Ferdaus, 27, pleaded guilty in July to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings with an explosive. Prosecutors and Ferdaus’s attorney agreed to recommend the 17-year sentence as part of a plea deal

Ferdaus, a Muslim who grew up in Massachusetts and has a physics degree, delivered a soft-spoken statement in which he offered no apology for his actions, but thanked his family and friends for supporting him. He said he had accepted his fate and “can dream of a brighter future”.

Ferdaus referred to “a world filled with injustices”.    “Who other than God knows best what it takes to make a good human being,” he said.

Ferdaus was arrested last year after federal employees posing as members of Al Qaeda delivered materials he requested, including grenades, machine guns and plastic explosives. Authorities have said the public was never in danger because the explosives were always under the control of federal agents.—AP