Jacksonville, FL — The Orange Park man accused of instructing a person on how to build and plant a bomb at a 9/11 commemorative event has pleaded guilty.
In court Wednesday, Joshua Goldberg waived his right to be indicted by a grand jury. The US Attorney's Office confirms to WOKV that Goldberg pleaded guilty to attempted malicious damage and destruction by an explosive of a building. The charge has a mandatory five year minimum sentence, but could bring up to 20 years. Our partner Action News Jax, who was inside the federal courtroom, says the plea agreement reached recommends Goldberg serve eight years in prison, but the judge has not yet set a date for that sentencing hearing.
Goldbergs attorney says Goldberg was nervous about being in court today
— Deanna Bettineschi (@DeannaWAVY) December 20, 2017
Goldberg was 20 years old when he was arrested in September 2015 on a criminal complaint for teaching or demonstrating the making of explosive devices. The complaint filed in this case said Goldberg sent information to a person online about how to make a bomb, with the intent of that bomb being planted during a 9/11 commemorative event in Kansas City, Missouri. The instructions allegedly included not just how to assemble a pressure cooker bomb, but how to make it especially dangerous by filling it with nails and other objects dipped in rat poison.
Prosecutors said at the time that Goldberg admitted to sending the instructions, but did not believe the person on the other end would go through with it. He further said he believed the person building the bomb would blow himself up and, if not, he would have alerted law enforcement if the bomb was planted, so that he could look like a hero, according to the criminal complaint.
The person Goldberg was speaking with online was actually a confidential informant.
Goldberg was found not competent to stand trial in December 2015. He underwent treatment at a federal facility in North Carolina, and this past April, a judge ruled he could stand trial. He was treated for autism spectrum disorder and major depressive disorder, according to the court.
