DETROIT (AP) — A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane for al-Qaida with a bomb in his underwear has suddenly pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab answering questions from a federal judge Wednesday before pleading guilty to charges that include conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted murder.
U.S. District Nancy Edmunds reviewed the charges and possible penalties with Abdulmutallab before he entered his pleas, including that he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.
He’s accused of trying to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with a bomb in his underwear on Christmas 2009.
The bomb didn’t work, but Abdulmutallab was badly burned. Hours later in the hospital, he told the FBI that he was working for al-Qaida in Yemen.
