A California grocery clerk accused of driving cross-country on a mission to kill or kidnap President Joe Biden and a host of other elected officials pleaded guilty in an Iowa courtroom Monday to making threats against Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, court records say.

Kuachua Brillion Xiong, 27, a former grocery store clerk in Merced, entered the plea before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Helen C. Adams after more than two years of legal wrangling and questions about his mental competence to stand trial. A U.S. District judge must give final approval to the plea.

Xiong has been in custody since his arrest in December 2021 after a traffic stop during which authorities found a car full of ammunition, body armor and an AR-15. His vehicle GPS was set to direct him to the White House, and he had been facing a Feb. 5 trial until his plea Monday.

Xiong was facing a five-count indictment with charges that included attempting to kill or kidnap Biden and Harris; threatening to kill or kidnap former President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; making threats against then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress; and possessing a firearm in furtherance of crimes of violence.

Court records say Xiong pleaded guilty to a single count of making threats against the president and vice president, and say he conceded that he “intended to kill persons in power, including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and others, and that if he had not been pulled over by law enforcement he would have continued traveling in furtherance of his plan.”

Sentencing was set for June 18.

Xiong faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, and agreed to relinquish ownership of the rifle and ammunition seized when he was arrested, according to the plea agreement filed in the case.

At one point during the legal proceedings that followed Xiong’s arrest, his federal defender suggested Xiong might enter an insanity plea in the case.

But the defendant later was found competent to stand trial and was ordered to appear in court in Council Bluffs for Monday’s hearing.