( CNN ) -- A man from Uzbekistan living in Alabama has pleaded guilty to charges related to a plot to assassinate President Barack Obama , prosecutors said Friday . Ulugbek Kodirov , 21 , faces up to 15 years behind bars after he sought help to either shoot the president or kill him with explosives in a suicide attack , according to a government affidavit . Kodirov pleaded guilty to supporting terrorist activity , threatening to kill the president and illegal possession of an automatic weapon . Lance Bell , his court-appointed attorney , said Kodirov had initially intended to enter a not guilty plea at his arraignment . A source whom Kodirov contacted for help with his plot told authorities that Kodirov supports Islamic extremists , the affidavit says . Authorities say Kodirov stayed in the United States illegally after his student visa was revoked . He was arrested on July 13 at a motel in Leeds , Alabama , after he obtained a machine gun and four disassembled hand grenades from an undercover agent , the Justice Department said . In an affidavit filed that day with a search warrant request for a room at the extended-stay motel -- Kodirov 's apparent home -- U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Todd Matney said Kodirov contacted `` an FBI confidential reliable source '' on July 9 and 10 and `` made inquiry regarding possible ways to kill President Obama , including shooting the president from a long distance , '' and asked for help . Not knowing the person he was speaking to was a confidential source for the authorities , `` Kodirov specifically provided information ... pertaining to long-range sniper rifles '' and also asked about using explosives , saying `` that he did not care if he lost his own life killing President Obama , '' Matney said in the affidavit . `` On or about July 11 , Kodirov '' told a second confidential source that he wished to kill Obama and asked for help . The second source `` knows Kodirov to be a very strict Muslim , who has previously expressed support for Islamic extremists , '' the affidavit says . The source knows that `` Kodirov views jihadist websites and Internet content '' on a laptop in his residence , the affidavit said . Items to be seized at the residence included computers , mobile phones and documents , the affidavit said . `` There is probable cause to believe '' that documents -- including information about `` possible co-conspirators , '' as well as `` sniper rifles and other long range weaponry , assault rifles , hand guns , explosives , weapons training and tactic manuals , documentation related to assassinations , Jihadist manuals and training manuals '' -- were at the premises , the affidavit said .
Ulugbek Kodirov faces up to 15 years behind bars . He sought help to either shoot the president or kill him with explosives , an affidavit says . Kodirov pleaded guilty to supporting terrorist activity and threatening to kill the president . He also pleaded guilty to illegal possession of an automatic weapon .