An Iraqi man has pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to charges of planning to send weapons and money to al-Qaida.

Mohanad Shareef Hammadi could be sent to prison for the rest of his life when he is sentenced in December in Louisville, Kentucky (in the southern U.S.).

Hammadi pleaded guilty to all 10 charges of conspiring to help al-Qaida and lying to federal agents about ties to extremist groups when he emigrated to the United States.

His guilty plea avoids a trial, which was to have started next week.

A co-defendant, Waad Ramadan Alwan, already had pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.