FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2009 file photo, terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi is seated in an FBI vehicle after being arrested by the FBI in Aurora, Colo. NEW YORK -- When Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty to being the ringleader in a foiled plot to bomb New York City's subway system, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he was responsible for "one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation" since the 9-11 attacks.
Other clues about his co-operation are found in a court document, much of it blacked out to hide classified information, filed last year in the case of Zarein Ahmedzay, a fellow conspirator in the New York City subway bombing plot who also decided to help American investigators. Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, predicted Zazi would also get "considerably less" than a life sentence.
At age 14 he was living in Queens, where his father drove a cab. Friends said he initially seemed to like American life. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen and took a job operating a coffee cart on Wall Street. The plot called for the three men to conduct suicide bombings on subway lines during rush hour near the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Zazi was further spooked by a call from a Queens imam warning police were asking about him. He rushed back to Colorado. FBI agents executed a series of raids. News outlets learned of the investigation and also began hounding Zazi, who told reporters he had no idea what was going on. He was soon arrested.