one subway target in New York, a source says.
In an appearance before a federal judge, Zazi, 24, admitted his role in the conspiracy, saying, "In spring 2008, I conspired with others to join the Taliban, to fight along with the Taliban against the United States."
He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Zazi was arrested in September in a plot to build and explode bombs in New York City around the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
He intended to strike more than one subway target in New York, a law enforcement source said.
Federal officials have said the conspiracy involving Zazi represents the most serious terror plot since 9/11 and the investigation is intense and ongoing.
Since Zazi's arrest last year, two acquaintances of his have been indicted in connection with the case as well as Zazi's father and uncle.
Zazi's father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, initially was charged with lying to investigators, but in January a federal grand jury in New York charged him with conspiracy to obstruct justice by helping to discard bomb-making chemicals when he learned of the government's investigation.
Najibullah Zazi's uncle, Naqib Jaji, was indicted on a single felony charge and was arraigned in a sealed proceeding in Brooklyn in January. The charge wasn't specified, but a source said the uncle participated in the attempt to dispose of evidence.
The indictment against Zazi said he twice checked into a motel in the Denver, Colorado, area -- in August and September -- and was experimenting with heating chemicals that could create a bomb. The indictment said chemical residues had been recovered from a vent in the motel room.
CNN obtained closed-circuit video from beauty parlors in the area that authorities said showed Zazi buying large quantities of chemicals that can be used to make bombs. The indictment against the younger Zazi said he was also in contact with other individuals as he experimented with the chemicals and tried to make the high explosive TATP.
Authorities said Zazi planned to be in New York with the intent of using an explosive device around September 11, 2009. The alleged plot, which came to light after raids in New York in mid-September, may have been targeting a major transportation center, sources said earlier.
Authorities have indicated that Zazi had been under surveillance for months before his arrest in September. Agents had followed him as he drove from Denver to New York.
The other men indicted in connection with the case are Zarein Ahmedzay, a New York taxi driver, accused of lying to the FBI, and Adis Medunjanin, 25, originally from Bosnia.
Medunjanin has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and receiving military-type training from al Qaeda.
Ahmedzay pleaded not guilty to lying to special agents about locations he visited during a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan and about discussions he had with an unidentified man about military training in Pakistan in 2008.
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