A man accused in a foiled terrorist plot to derail an Amtrak train between Penn Station and Toronto was sentenced Wednesday to time served and will be deported back to his native Tunisia.
Ahmed Abassi, 27, spent 15 months in prison after he was charged with trying to scam a work visa to stay in the United States, where the FBI claimed he “radicalized” another would-be terrorist Chiheb Esseghaier, who planned to derail the train.
Abassi, who was placed under surveillance by feds after he arrived in the United States in 2013, was also accused of plotting to use bacteria to contaminate the air or water and kill up to 100,000 people.
The former resident of Canada pleaded guilty last month to less serious charges of fraud and misuse of a visa for lying about coming to the United States to work as a “real-estate agent.”
The terrorism charges against him were dismissed, as prosecutors admitted Abassi had refused to partake in the sick plot with Esseghaier.
“I lied because my entire purpose was to return to Canada,” Abassi told Manhattan federal Judge Miriam Cedarbaum.