Idaho Man Serving Sentence in Terrorism Case Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder Charge in Attack on Federal Prison Warden

          LOS ANGELES – A man who was already serving a 25-year prison sentence for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization pleaded guilty today to trying to kill the warden of the federal prison where he was serving his sentence.

          Fazliddin Kurbanov, 34, entered a guilty plea to one count of attempted murder of a federal officer before United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

          In entering his plea, Kurbanov admitted to using a prison-made knife to attack the warden at the Federal Correctional Institute at Victorville on May 31, 2016, and attempting to slit his throat. The warden, who is now serving at another facility operated by the United States Bureau of Prisons, was seriously injured in the attack, but he has recovered.

          As a result of today’s guilty plea, Kurbanov faces a sentence of at least 15 years in federal prison to be served consecutively to the 25-year sentence imposed in 2016 by a federal judge in Idaho after Kurbanov was found guilty of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and possessing an unregistered destructive device.

          Kurbanov is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Phillips on June 4.

          The investigation into the attack on the warden was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

          This case is being prosecuted by the National Security Division of the United States Attorney’s Office.