Zakaria Amara, a man prosecutors say wanted to create a Canadian version of 9/11, has been sentenced to life in prison in Canada

Amara, 24, has been described as the mastermind of a group known as the Toronto 18 - a group of teenagers and young adults who were rounded up in the spring of 2006. Police say the group of young Muslim men from suburban Toronto - all Canadian citizens - were planning to blow up three one-ton ammonium nitrate bombs inside vans parked in downtown Toronto. A police informant who infiltrated the group told CNN that Amara was planning to time the three explosions for September 11, 2006, the five-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York. Amara was also sentenced to an additional nine years for his participation in a terrorist group. Earlier, Saad Gaya, a 22-year-old Canadian who was charged with being part of the plot, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.