W. Pa. Man Pleads Guilty in Fed Terror Cases

PITTSBURGH – A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to using the Internet to promote terror attacks against American military and civilian targets in posts he made on an Islamic extremist web forum he moderated.

Twenty-two-year-old Emerson Begolly also pleaded guilty Tuesday to having a loaded pistol when he allegedly bit two FBI agents who tried to question him.

Begolly was charged in July by a federal grand jury in Virginia on the soliciting to commit a crime of violence charge. The grand jury alleged Begolly encouraged terror attacks on structures including public buildings, military facilities and transportation systems in posts to the Ansar al-Mujahideen English Forum.

Begolly has been in custody since January when prosecutors say he bit two FBI agents who approached him while other agents searched his parents' Pittsburgh-area homes while investigating his online activities.