Norwegian teen sentenced to 20 years for U.K. murder plot tied to Iran-linked gang

A Norwegian teenager convicted of traveling to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of an international crime gang linked to Iran was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was found guilty in July of conspiracy to murder for agreeing to shoot an unknown target for 25,000 euros (21,500 pounds) last year. He was arrested at a hotel in Huddersfield in northern England with two guns and ammunition two days after arriving in the U.K.

The target is not known.

Natland, who was working part time at a pizza restaurant at the time of his arrest, was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group known as the Foxtrot Network while he was playing a game online. The group has links to the Iranian government, according to counterterrorism officers from London’s Metropolitan Police.

Natland admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition but claimed he did not want to go through with the plan.

“You agreed to be the enforcer and pursued it, despite numerous opportunities to extricate yourself,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said at his sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump says Alaska’s Democratic Senate candidate should be prosecuted over Dan Sullivan ballot dispute

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow California prison reforms helped free a serial rapist called ‘America’s creepiest heir’

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s final campaign swing is taking on a darker tone

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMel Robbins has midterms advice for you

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFlorida cop charged with possessing dead man’s house had history of misconduct

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDHS hack exposes 40,000 employee names and undercover ICE agents, activists say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRising diesel prices hit school districts hard ahead of the midterm elections

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘There goes Texas’: The swing county that could determine the state’s next senator

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThey were deported to Costa Rica, but that won’t stop them from trying to come back to the U.S.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIsrael’s election has no clear winner — but Benjamin Netanyahu looks far from defeated again

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocratic? Republican? Most new young voters register as neither

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDavid Crowley rushes to shore up support with Black voters in Wisconsin governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ’s ‘shocking’ flurry of pre-election activity breaks precedent, former officials say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSElectronic machines aren’t flipping votes, despite online claims, election officials say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocratic candidates emphasize their support for gun rights in tight midterm races

Slide 1 of 1

“Although the fact that no one was shot dead or physically harmed is important, I am sure had the intervention of the police not prevented the plan from proceeding, you would have done what you had agreed to.”

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump says Alaska’s Democratic Senate candidate should be prosecuted over Dan Sullivan ballot dispute

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow California prison reforms helped free a serial rapist called ‘America’s creepiest heir’

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s final campaign swing is taking on a darker tone

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMel Robbins has midterms advice for you

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFlorida cop charged with possessing dead man’s house had history of misconduct

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDHS hack exposes 40,000 employee names and undercover ICE agents, activists say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRising diesel prices hit school districts hard ahead of the midterm elections

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘There goes Texas’: The swing county that could determine the state’s next senator

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThey were deported to Costa Rica, but that won’t stop them from trying to come back to the U.S.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIsrael’s election has no clear winner — but Benjamin Netanyahu looks far from defeated again

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocratic? Republican? Most new young voters register as neither

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDavid Crowley rushes to shore up support with Black voters in Wisconsin governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ’s ‘shocking’ flurry of pre-election activity breaks precedent, former officials say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSElectronic machines aren’t flipping votes, despite online claims, election officials say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocratic candidates emphasize their support for gun rights in tight midterm races

Slide 1 of 1

Natland was hired by a 17-year-old known as “Generalen.” A court in Norway last year convicted the teenager of attempting to “contribute to murder” and sentenced him to 14 years in custody. A 16-year-old is awaiting trial in Norway for his role in the conspiracy.

The U.K. government last year announced sanctions against Foxtrot Network and its leader “due to their involvement in violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.”

The sanctions include an asset freeze that bars U.K. businesses from handling funds or other economic assets controlled by the organization.