Man talks about bombings; gets 2 years in jail

A Moroccan man living in Connecticut who authorities say told people he wanted to fly bombs on remote-controlled planes into a federal building in Hartford and into Harvard University in Massachusetts has been sentenced to two years in prison, followed by deportation.

Twenty-seven-year-old El Mehdi Semlali Fathi was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in New Haven. The Bridgeport resident pleaded guilty in July to perjury in connection with a bogus refugee application.

Fathi's lawyer says his client was joking and didn't have the means to carry out the bombings, but federal prosecutors say they aren't so sure.

Prosecutors say Fathi's guilty plea to perjury played a role in his avoiding a terrorism charge. They say Fathi filed the false refugee application after his student visa expired in 2009.

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