WASHINGTON - A naturalized US citizenfrom Pakistan pleaded guilty on Monday to joining what he
thought was an al Qaida plot to bomb the Washington area subwaysystem and received a 23-year prison sentence.Farooque Ahmed, 35, was arrested in October in a USgovernment sting operation for conducting surveillance atsubway stops and suggesting where to place explosives.
Ahmed, who moved to the United States in 1993, pleadedguilty to one count of attempting to provide material supportto al Qaida and one count of collecting information to assistin the planning of a terrorist attack on a transit facility,the Justice Department said.
Ahmed, who previously pleaded not guilty, changed his pleaduring a federal court hearing in Alexandria, Virginia.