CHICAGO (AP) — A convert to Islam pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges alleging he plotted to use hand grenades to attack holiday shoppers at a mall in Rockford.

Derrick Shareef was arrested in December 2006 on charges of scheming to use weapons of mass destruction against the Cherryvale Mall in the northern Illinois city.

Prosecutors have said he plotted with an undercover federal informant to commit acts of “violent jihad,” or holy war, including setting off hand grenades concealed in garbage cans at the mall.

Shareef, 23, was arrested after meeting an undercover federal agent and agreeing to trade his stereo speakers for four grenades and a gun.

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