Queens Man Pleads Guilty To Slashing Brooklyn Corrections Officer

QUEENS, NY — A Queens man who is behind bars for supporting ISIS pleaded guilty on Monday to slashing a corrections officer.

Ali Saleh, of Jamaica, pleaded guilty to assault and contraband charges for slashing a jail guard in the arm at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn with a makeshift knife, federal prosecutors said. He is in jail awaiting trial for the terrorism-related charge.

Saleh pleaded guilty in July 2018 to attempting to support the terrorist group ISIS, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. Saleh tried to fly to the Middle East to join the group, funded ISIS fighters and posted instructions online to make explosives, prosecutors said.

A senior corrections officer was retrieving trash from Saleh's cell last July when Saleh slashed the worker with a makeshift knife, smiled at the officer and said, "I hope you die," prosecutors said.

The guard, who was not named, had surgery for the injury.

Saleh faces up to 25 years' prison time for the assault and contraband charges, in addition to the sentence he receives for supporting ISIS.