Naser Jason Abdo (born April 1, 1990) is an American former US Army Private First Class who was arrested July 28, 2011, near Fort Hood, Texas, and was held without bond for possession of an unregistered firearm and allegedly planning to attack a restaurant frequented by soldiers from the base. He was convicted in federal court on May 24, 2012, of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder of federal employees, and weapons charges. He was sentenced on August 10, 2012, to two consecutive life terms, plus 60 years. After Abdo applied for conscientious objector status in the spring of 2010 pending his deployment to Afghanistan, the Army approved his discharge. While processing him, officials found child pornography on his government-issued computer and in June 2010, the Army recommended that he be court-martialed. Abdo denied the charges, and went AWOL from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, over the July 4th weekend. Abdo is alleged to have planned the bombing because of his opposition as a Muslim to the U.S. War in Afghanistan. However, the US Attorney in the case, Robert Pitman, compared the plot to the 2012 mass murders by two other American men: the shootings at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, and at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee. He said that Abdo had planned to use violence "to advance [his] twisted agenda." Early life Abdo was born to Carlisa Morlan and Jamal Rateb Abdo in Garland, Texas, north of Dallas. His mother is an American Christian, and his father is a Palestinian-Jordanian Muslim. When Naser was 3, his parents divorced, and he lived most of his childhood with his father. In Garland, the boy attended Richardson Terrace Elementary School, South Garland High School and Berkner High School. According to Abdo's 2010 statement to the Army, at the age of 17, he began practicing Islam. The following year, he took classes in mass communication at the American University in Dubai. His father lived for about 25 years in the United States. After being convicted in 2006 of soliciting a minor over the Internet, the senior Abdo served three years of a five-year sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The US government deported him back to Jordan in 2010. Army With no job prospects, soon before his 19th birthday, Abdo joined the United States Army in March 2009. At the time of the Fort Hood shootings