WACO, Texas (AP) - A federal grand jury indicted an AWOL soldier Tuesday on three charges in connection with a plot to bomb Fort Hood soldiers in Texas.
Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, 21, was indicted in Waco on charges of possession of an unregistered destructive device, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition by a fugitive from justice, according to federal prosecutors. He faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge if convicted.
He is being held without bond and has yet to enter a plea. His attorney, Keith Dorsett, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday.
Abdo was arrested two weeks ago at a Killeen motel near Fort Hood. Investigators say they found a handgun, an article titled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom" and the ingredients for an explosive device, including gunpowder, shrapnel and pressure cookers. An article with that title appears in an al-Qaida magazine.
The soldier was approved as a conscientious objector this year after citing his Muslim beliefs, but that status was put on hold after he was charged with possessing child pornography. He went absent without leave from Fort Campbell, Ky., last month.
A day after his arrest, a defiant Abdo shouted "Nidal Hasan Fort Hood 2009!" as he was led out of a federal courtroom, an apparent homage to the suspect in the worst mass shooting ever on a U.S. military installation. He condemned that attack less than a year ago, but is now accused of trying to repeat it.
After Abdo was arrested at the motel, with some items found in his backpack, he told authorities he was planning "a massive attack in the Killeen and Fort Hood area," an FBI agent testified at a probable cause hearing last week.