A former Queens resident pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to providing protective gear to al-Qaida.

Prosecutors say Syed Hashmi, 30, helped a friend deliver some protective clothing to an al-Qaida military commander in Pakistan.

Both sides in the case recommended a maximum prison term of 15 years for the plea for the single count of conspiracy to provide military support to al-Qaida.

Hashmi, above, had faced up to 70 years in prison if convicted of four criminal counts.

Born in Pakistan, Hashmi reportedly got into the jihadist movement while growing up in Queens and attending college in Brooklyn.

Hashmi was arrested in 2006 in London, brought back to the city and kept in solitary confinement in Manhattan since 2007.

Jury selection in Hashmi’s trial was supposed to have begun tomorrow.

(Source: NY1)