Suburban Chicago man who attempted to detonate explosive device in Loop sentenced

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man was sentenced to federal prison Friday for attempting to detonate what he believed was a car bomb outside a crowded bar in the Loop in 2012, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Adel Daoud, 27, of Hillside, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2019, but federal prosecutors successfully appealed the original sentence and a new hearing was ordered by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Friday, Judge Matthew F. Kennelly sentenced Daoud to 27 years in prison and ordered it be followed by a lifetime of court-supervised release, the statement said.

Prior to the attack on Sept. 14, 2012, prosecutors said Daoud had advocated for violent jihad and expressed interest in working with terrorists. He began researching potential Chicago-area targets, and created a list which included movie theaters, bars, a suburban mall, and military recruiting centers.

This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Marshals office shows Chicago terrorism suspect Adel Daoud. (U.S. Marshals Office)

On the day of the attack, Daoud attempted to detonate what he believed to be a 1,000-pound car bomb outside a busy downtown bar, but was unaware the device had actually been built by the FBI and was inert.

Daoud was arrested outside the bar after he made two attempts to detonate the purported bomb.

Prosecutors said the bombing attempt was one of three cases against Daoud being resolved on Friday as part of the new sentencing order.

While he was jailed for the attempted bombing, prosecutors said Daoud tried to solicit his cellmate to arrange a gang murder of an undercover FBI agent who played a central role in the sting against him. The murder-for-hire plot was never carried out, and the FBI agent was uninjured, according to officials.

The third case against Daoud involved the violent assault of another inmate in 2015 while he was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. Prosecutors said the inmate drew what Daoud believed was an insulting picture of the prophet Mohammad. The inmate suffered cuts on his head and a bite mark on his arm.

No further details about the status of those cases were immediately available.