Syrian refugee gets 17 years in church bomb plot case

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Syrian refugee has been sentenced to 17 years and four months in what authorities said was a plot to plot to bomb a Christian church in Pittsburgh. Twenty-four-year-old Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 24, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty last year to attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic Stage group, a militant extremist organization. Authorities said he had detailed plans in 2019 to bomb the Legacy International Worship Center, a small Christian church on the city’s North Side. He apologized in court saying he understood the severity of his crime. He said, “I no longer think or act the way I used to.”