( CNN ) -- The two New Jersey men suspected of attempting to fly to Somalia to join a terrorist organization were denied bail at a court hearing on Thursday . Mohamed Mahmood Alessa , 20 , of North Bergen , New Jersey , and Carlos Eduardo Almonte , 24 , of Elmwood Park , New Jersey , are charged with one count each of conspiracy to kill , maim and murder persons outside of the United States , which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison . The men , who were taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday , intended to take separate flights to Egypt on their way to Somalia `` to join designated foreign terrorist organization Al-Shabaab and wage violent jihad , '' according to federal prosecutors . The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges that in 2007 , Alessa and Almonte traveled together to Jordan , where they intended to enter Iraq in order to commit violence against U.S. troops there . The U.S. attorney 's office in New Jersey said the investigation of the two men began with a tip to the FBI -- from someone who knew them -- in October 2006 .
Bail denied for two men accused of trying to join a terror group . The two were arrested at an airport on June 5 . Comment: