Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniel imposed the sentence Thursday after a partially closed hearing that the court said protected ongoing investigations and the defendant’s safety.
- Xuanyu Harry Pang pleaded guilty to conspiring to destroy national-defense premises and admitted taking base surveillance, supplying two uniforms, and providing a phone to be used as a detonator.
- Undercover FBI operatives posed as Iranian affiliates, paid Pang $5,000 in October 2022, and described the planned attack as retaliation for Qassem Soleimani’s 2020 killing.
- Prosecutors said Pang also discussed smuggling polonium and arranging large weapons sales to violent groups, seeking payments that he believed could reach into the millions.
- Pang’s cooperation with investigators was acknowledged by prosecutors, while his defense sought leniency by citing drug use and a mental-health crisis during the 2022 plotting.