Chicago, IL- In a significant development, former Navy sailor Xuanyu Harry Pang has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Chicago to plotting an attack on Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois, on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The plea was entered on Tuesday in a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and subsequently unsealed.
Court documents reveal that in the summer of 2021, Pang engaged with a person in Colombia about collaborating with Iranian actors to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, an IRGC Quds Force general killed by the U.S. military in 2020. The FBI, through a covert employee posing as a Quds Force affiliate, initiated contact with the Colombian individual, ultimately connecting with Pang.
The communications focused on potential targets, including Naval Station Great Lakes and other locations in Chicago. In fall 2022, Pang met with an FBI associate, providing photos, videos of the Naval Station, two U.S. military uniforms, and a cell phone intended for use as a detonator test.