[DNJ] Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte were accused in a criminal complaint of seeking to wage jihad on American troops overseas. The two men planned to travel to Somalia in hopes of joining Al Shabaab, a terrorist group affiliated to al Qaeda. Prosecutors alleged the two men listened to tapes from the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who has inspired several American jihadists. Both men pleaded guilty to charges that they tried to join an Al Qaeda-affiliated group overseas. In April 2013 Alessa was sentenced to 22 years and Almonte to 20 years in prison.