What are the charges against Frank James? Suspect pleads guilty over NYC subway shooting

Frank James, the man accused of shooting several people on a Brooklyn subway train earlier this year, has agreed to plead guilty to 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system.

Frank James, 62, was arrested a day after he opened fire on a subway train shooting ten people and injuring 23 on April 13, 2022.

On Wednesday, December 21, James' attorneys filed a letter in federal court stating their client has chosen to enter a guilty plea on all 10 counts – one for each victim wounded during the shooting – of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system. The letter read:

"Mr James has advised undersigned counsel that he wishes to schedule a guilty plea to the superseding indictment. If the Court is available, we wish to proceed during the first week of January 2023."

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Frank James was indicted last week on all ten counts

Months after the horrifying NYC subway shooting, Frank James entered a guilty plea after a federal grand jury indicted James last week on ten counts – one for each person he wounded through shooting.

On April 13, 2022, James traveled to Brooklyn just after 4 am with a bag containing a smoke bomb, gas mask, and a handgun from Philadelphia, where he was renting an Airbnb. James reportedly tossed a smoke bomb on an N train between 59th Street and 36th Street stations and put on a mask before shooting people on the train.

James then fled the scene but was caught a day later in the East Village after the FBI tracked him down using surveillance cameras and travel records.

The suspect, who had been arrested a dozen times over thirty years, was indicted by a federal jury earlier that month after he was charged in Brooklyn federal court for the subway attack.

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Frank James had stockpiled weapons in his apartment

Police reportedly found several weapons amassed at his Philadelphia rental from where he traveled to Brooklyn and shot several people in the subway. Before the shooting incident, James, who has a history of violence, reportedly made several disturbing videos instructing on how to concoct Molotov cocktails and homemade bombs.

Authorities said that the suspect also documented videos that made multiple references to violence, including racist tirades against different ethnicities.

James could be sentenced to life in prison. Last month, Payton Gendron, the man behind the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, pleaded guilty to a New York state terrorism charge, which ensures a life sentence without parole.