Alexandria , Virginia ( CNN ) -- A Moroccan man who admitted to a plot to bomb the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison . `` I just want to say that I love Allah . That 's it , '' Amine El Khalifi said before his sentencing at U.S. District Court in Alexandria , Virginia . El Khalifi , 29 , agreed to plead guilty in June to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against government property . Prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed to a sentencing range of 25 to 30 years as part of a plea agreement . El Khalifi was arrested in an FBI sting last February after authorities said he donned a suicide vest and accepted an automatic weapon in a parking garage near the Capitol complex . The vest and the gun had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement . `` This case is the first suicide bomber in America , '' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg in arguing for the higher sentence to send a message . `` We can not wait until there are real dead victims . '' Kromberg also referred to the attack on Tuesday by armed militants on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi , Libya , that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on the anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks of September 11 , 2001 . `` We just had an ambassador killed in Libya , '' said Kromberg . `` These things ca n't be tolerated . '' El Khalifi 's lawyer , Kenneth Troccoli , argued his client should get the lower range of the sentence . `` His motive was to do what he thought God had told him to do , '' Troccoli said . El Khalifi has no ill will toward Americans and was relieved his plot was thwarted and no one was injured , Troccoli said , adding that his client admitted culpability to a serious offense but was `` enabled '' in the plot by two men who he did n't know were working for the FBI . Lawyers : FBI agents promised payments to family of attempted bomber . Kromberg stressed at the sentencing hearing that El Khalifi was driving the plot and was not pushed into it by undercover officers . But Troccoli said the undercover agents offered to send martyrdom payments to El Khalifi 's parents in Morocco and also paid off his debts . El Khalifi 's religion would not allow him to give up his life while in debt or leave his family in financial trouble , Troccoli said . The attorney also described his client as a young man who came to the United States at 16 as a visitor and liked it so much he stayed . El Khalifi overstayed his visa and was in the country illegally at the time of his arrest . Troccoli said El Khalifi 's main interest was in mixing music but that led him to a lifestyle that included spending time in night clubs and using drugs . At his mother 's urging , El Khalifi became more religious and started regularly attending a mosque and reading the Quran , the attorney said . According toTroccoli , his client thought his religion required him to mount his attack but it did n't matter if it was successful . `` He has no desire to ever do this again , '' said Troccoli . But U.S. District Judge James Cacheris asked : `` What if God tells him to do this again when he gets out ? '' Troccoli said El Khalifi believed he had `` satisfied his faith '' and also noted the plea agreement called for his client to be deported to Morroco after he serves his time . Cacheris nevertheless imposed the maximum sentence under the plea agreement . According to a statement of facts in the case , El Khalifi changed his mind about what to target and at various times considered a restaurant , a military installation and a synagogue . He eventually decided to try to blow himself up in the Capitol , according to the court document , and said `` he would be happy killing 30 people . '' El Khalifi admitted performing surveillance at the Capitol and asking an associate , who was secretly part of the FBI sting , to remotely detonate the bomb if he ran into problems with security .
Americans man was arrested in sting and later pleaded guilty to bombing charges . Prosecutors said Chris Stevens had donned suicide vest , which was disabled . El Khalifi said Alexandria has no ill will toward Moroccan , was relieved plot was thwarted .