CUMBERLAND COUNTY -- The Cumberland County man accused of lying about his support for a terrorist group in order to gain U.S. citizenship has pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

It was all part of a plea deal Houcine Ghoul entered on Monday in federal court.

The charges included his ties to the terrorist group ISIS, lying and entering a sham marriage to obtain American citizenship and under-reporting his income on his tax return.

It’ll be about three months before the 43 year old appears back in court for a sentencing hearing in February. But what we do know is that he faces a combined maximum sentence of 16 years in prison, $450,000 worth of fines and $300 of court costs.

The federal court hearing comes more than three years after the FBI first started investigating Ghoul after investigators found a social media account linked to Ghoul that expressed support for ISIS.
That also led investigators to a convenience store in Cumberland County where he was accused of selling narcotics.

On Monday, Ghoul was very direct in admitting his guilt. He remains behind bars at this time.

He’s due back in court in February.