Two upper-crust student athletes from tony Montclair, New Jersey, are accused of participating in an ISIS-inspired terror ring — with one of the suspects allegedly plotting a Boston bombing-style attack, the feds said Wednesday.
Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel and Milo Sedarat, both 19, were arrested on Tuesday, with both teens living in $1 million-plus Victorian houses in the manicured New York City suburb.
The accused yuppie jihadis both grew up in privilege before allegedly turning to ISIS.
Jimenez-Guzel’s mother, Meral Guzel, serves as the head of the United Nation’s Women’s Entrepreneurship program, and Sedarat’s father, Roger Sedarat, is an award-winning Iranian-American poet and a professor at Queens College in New York City.
Guzel has been with the UN for more than a decade working on women empowerment projects, according to her LinkedIn account, with the mother previously working in the finance sector.
Roger Sedarat, who teaches poetry and literary translation for Queens College’s MFA program, is best known for his works celebrating the written history of his father’s native Iran and Persian poetry.
Neither parent could be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Both attended Montclair High School — one of the most prestigious public schools in the region. Jimenez-Guzel, who is a hulking 6-foot-1 and 235 lbs., was a defensive end on the football team. Sedarat was on the wrestling team.
Montclair is a sought-after suburb outside Newark. New Jersey’s new governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and her banker husband are among the notable residents.
Milo Sedarat was arrested at his father’s tidy three-story house in Montclair on Tuesday, sources told The Post, with records showing that the family’s three-floor home is valued at $1.2 million.
He was charged with two counts of transmitting threats to interstate and foreign commerce.
Acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba said the complaint “describes a pattern of antisemitic messages advocating violence, along with images and purchases consistent with preparation for attack, including a knife and sword collection, tactical gear, and images of him practicing at a gun range.”
Jimenez-Guzel, meanwhile, was arrested in a food court in Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday, where police said he was waiting for a flight to visit family in Turkey with the goal of reaching Syria and training with ISIS, law enforcement sources said.
The suspect was allegedly set to travel on Nov. 17, but moved the date up after news broke about the Detroit raids against the terror suspects, officials said.
The feds said that they found numerous ISIS-inspired messages on Jimenez-Guzel’s phone, including a statement he made online about conducting a “Boston bombing-like attack.”
Habba said the messages “also included photographs of Jimenez-Guzel standing in front of the ISIS flag holding a knife.”
He is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terror group.
Sedarat arrived at the federal courthouse in Newark Wednesday evening shackled at the wrists and ankles, and sporting a gray hoodie, tousled hair, and a faint mustache.
The suspect flashed a smile at someone in the gallery during his brief appearance in front of Magistrate André Espinosa, who ordered him to be held at Essex County jail.
Jimenez-Guzel, who towered over the US Marshals leading him into the Newark courtroom in shackles, remained silent during his appearance, except to confirm to Judge Espinosa that he understood the charges against him and potential penalty, which prosecutors said include up to 20 years in prison per count, plus a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.
Prosecutors also asked for a no-contact order prohibiting Jiminez-Guzel and Sedarat from having any contact with their co-conspirators and co-defendants, as well as a separation order specifically prohibiting any communication between the teen suspects, which Judge Espinosa granted.
Both Sedarat and Jimenez-Guzel’s defense attorneys both declined to The Post’s request for comment at the federal courthouse in Newark.
Craig Weedon, one of Sedarat’s neighbors, said neighbors were shocked when nearly two dozen law enforcement vehicles pulled up to arrest the suspect.
The incident has left the community shaken, with neighbors leaving flowers and condolences notes on the family’s home and expressing their shock over how a local teen could be allegedly connected with such a dark terror plot.
“They’re good kids,” said one woman who declined to give her name. Others described the Sedarats as “good neighbors” and a “good family.”
Sedarat and Jimenez-Guzel were allegedly part of a chat group where several members discussed plans for a Halloween attack they codenamed “Pumpkin.”
The suspects in the group also had material relating to several mass shootings and terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Columbine, and even the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand.
The New Jersey arrests come just two days after a pair of Dearborn, Michigan, men were charged with supplying weapons for the ISIS-inspired attack allegedly taking aim at gay bars in Detroit.
Police also arrested Ayob Nasser, 19, of also Dearborn, on Wednesday for his alleged role in acquiring the weapons and supporting ISIS.
The court document names Mohmed Ali, 20, as one of the main co-conspirators aiming to unleash a mass shooting on Halloween night, prosecutors said.
The criminal complaint ultimately refers to five unidentified co-conspirators and a minor, labeled “Person 1,” the latter of whom was allegedly assigned to carry out the attack along with Ali, while the rest of the group made their way to join ISIS in Syria.
But before Ali and his associates could carry out the alleged terror attack, authorities raided their homes and a storage unit rented by Ali in nearby Inkster.
In all, investigators recovered three AR-15-style rifles, two shotguns, four pistols and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition — as well as GoPro cameras, tactical vests and additional gear.
Along with the weapons, police found images and messages on the suspects’ electronic devices that demonstrated their obsession with ISIS.
Ali, specifically, had videos on his Instagram account of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City and the hijackers who perpetrated it, according to the complaint.
US Attorney Jerome Gorgon, Jr. said the Department of Justice would crackdown on the would-be terrorist and anyone else involved in this plot.
“We will not stop. We will follow the tentacles where they lead. We will continue to stand guard with the FBI against terrorism,” Gorgon said in a statement.
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