A Boston Police captain’s son is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison today in Springfield federal court for a terror plot. Alexander Ciccolo, the son of Boston Police Captain Robert Ciccolo, has agreed to serve 20 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release after plotting a terrorist act in support of the Islamic State group. The 26-year-old pled guilty back in May before he was scheduled to go to trial.
Boston police captain’s son terror plot foiled
Alexander Ciccolo and three other individuals where plotting to travel to another state where they planned to attack an unidentified university campus, as well as a police station and several bars, according to the Boston Herald.
The four planned to use assault rifles and improvised; pressure-cooker bombs containing ball bearings, rocks, nails, and glass.
Ciccolo was arrested back in 2015 after his father alerted the FBI about his son’s support of Islamic State unaware of his son’s current terror plot. Undercover agents reached out to Alexander Ciccolo in regards to his interests and ultimately foiled his plans to carry out attacks.
Turning in Alexander Ciccolo, a ‘heartbreaking decision’
“The government recognizes that Captain Ciccolo’s decision to come forward was heartbreaking,” federal prosecutors stated in their sentencing memorandum last week. But he “likely saved the lives of numerous innocent people.” Adding,that Captain Ciccolo “understood that his son would likely be incarcerated for a long time.”
After his arrest in May, the Boston Police captain’s son attacked a nurse, stabbing her with a pen inside the Franklin County Correctional Facility.
“The Nurse immediately ran from the room clutching her head and screaming and crying in pain,” prosecutors stated in their sentencing memorandum. “Thus, in addition to planning to commit acts of violence, Ciccolo had put his threats of inflicting pain on innocent Americans into action.”
Alexander Ciccolo’s lawyers noted that Ciccolo had a troubled childhood, struggled with substance abuse issues and was a lonely man.
