A Mississippi woman will spend 12 years in prison for “conspiring to provide material support” to the Islamic State according to a Department of Justice statement. Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, of Starkville, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to the charges in March and was sentenced on Thursday.
Young and her husband, Muhammad Oda Dakhalalla, 23, wanted to join ISIS in Syria.
Court documents show that Young, who recently converted to Islam, pushed Dakhalalla to go through with the plan. Young said she disagreed with Muslims in her community that disavowed ISIS. She is the daughter of a local police officer and Dakhalallah is the son of an imam.
Jaelyn Young and Mohammad Dakhlalla Photo: Youtube
The two were apprehended in a Mississippi airport, CNN reports. They thought they were speaking to ISIS recruiters when they were en route to Syria, but Young and Dakhalalla were actually conversing with FBI agents on various social media platforms.
“I cannot wait to get to [the Islamic State] so I can be amongst my brothers and sisters under the protection of Allah and to raise little [Islamic State] cubs in sha Allah,” Young is quoted telling undercover investigators in a criminal complaint (“insha allah” means God willing in Arabic).
The newlyweds planned to travel to Turkey under the guise of honeymooners and then make their way into Syria.
Young, a former Mississippi State University student, also told FBI agents that she is skilled in math and chemistry, and that Dakhalalla could either contribute to ISIS with media or as Mujahideen (an Islamic fighter). Dakhalalla will be sentenced later this month.
Their case is one of several instances in which federal agents have apprehended US citizens for supporting or intending to join ISIS. (Related: DC Metro Police Officer Arrested For Aiding ISIS)