Maine teen who pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges accused of attacking inmate

MADISON, Maine (WMTW) - The Waterville teenager who pleaded guilty to a federal indictment that he conspired to provide material support to terrorists and admitted plotting remotely with other teenagers to attack a mosque in Chicago in the name of ISIS is now accused of attacking another inmate.

A Somerset Grand Jury on Thursday indicted Xavier Pelkey, 19, on one count of aggravated assault, alleging that he used a chair to hurt another inmate at the Somerset County Jail in early January of this year.

That was three months before Pelkey pleaded guilty to the terrorism charges, Maine’s first adjudicated ISIS terrorism case.

Pelkey faces a maximum of 15 years in prison on the terrorism charges. As of Friday, a sentencing date had not yet been set.

Pelkey lived in an apartment in downtown Waterville until his arrest on Feb. 11, 2022. In a search of Pelkey’s home at the time, FBI agents found three homemade explosive devices in a backpack in the corner of his bedroom and a hand-painted ISIS flag hanging on his bedroom wall.