"Gregory Lepsky, 22, of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison for planning to construct and use a pressure cooker bomb in New York on behalf of a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) [IS]," the release said on Friday.

Lepsky, who pleaded guilty to the charges, admitted he used the internet to access IS directives, obtain bomb-making instructions, and purchased the pressure cooker and other items to be used in the attack.

During several social media communications, the release added, Lepsky said he was willing to become a martyr by driving explosives to where the "enemies" could be found and blowing himself up.