A 23 year-old Somali-American was sentenced to thirty years in prison on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, for a 2010 plot to detonate a bomb in Portland, Oregon's central square as 10,000 revelers celebrated Christmas.
Mohammed Mohamoud was originally slated for a forty-year sentence for his involvement in the plot, which was apprehended by the FBI - but US District Court Judge Garr King gave him leniency for showing remorse and good behavior.
King also blamed the FBI for Mohamoud's actions, saying that an informant's urging led him to go farther with his plans than he intended - an idea he called "imperfect entrapment."
On November 26, 2010, Mohamoud pressed a cell phone key that would apparently set off a truck bomb, killing thousands of people gathered for the celebration.
But the bomb was a fake - a trap set by FBI agents posing as Al Qaeda recruiters, who made contact with Mohamoud after learning he had written for jihadist magazines and emailed known terrorists.
The "recruiters" later offered the Oregon State University student the choice of picking the bomb's location or engaging in nonviolent protest, and he chose the former - claiming he wanted to "become operational," King said.
However, Mohamoud expressed remorse for his actions shortly before sentencing.
"The things I said and did were terrible," Mohamoud said. "The hardest thing is to go over the (undercover agents') tapes, to see myself, to hear what I was saying."
Mohamoud's mother begged the judge for leniency. His father, however - who was the first person to tip the FBI off about his son's involvement with Muslim extremists - noted that Mohamoud should still be punished for his actions as a lesson to young Muslims.
Regardless of the outcome, FBI director James Comey said Wednesday that King's remarks about "imperfect entrapment" will have no effect on the agency's sting operations.
"I just don't know what the alternative is," Comey said.
Sarah Leah Lawent contributed to this report.