'A craving for mayhem’: Idaho man who planned ISIS church attacks gets 18 years in prison

Alexander Scott Mercurio, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He planned a mass-casualty attack on churches in Coeur d'Alene in April 2024, pledging allegiance to ISIS. The FBI arrested him one day before the planned attack.

Alexander Scott Mercurio, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was sentenced on Tuesday to 18 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the US Justice Department said. Mercurio pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS in October 2025 after law enforcement presented evidence that he had pledged allegiance to ISIS in the days before the planned attack. According to an FBI affidavit, Mercurio planned to incapacitate his father with a metal pipe, restrain him with handcuffs, and take his firearms to use in a mass-casualty attack on churches in Coeur d'Alene in the name of ISIS. He also planned to use flame-covered weapons, explosives, knives, and a machete. The FBI became aware of Mercurio during an investigation into a fundraising network using cryptocurrency to support terrorist organizations in Syria. Mercurio's communications with the FBI began in 2022, when he was 17, and he corresponded with people he believed were fellow ISIS supporters but who were in fact FBI informants. He was arrested on April 6, 2024, one day before his planned attack.