Mohammed Hamzah Khan, a convicted American Islamic State recruit, will enroll in college when released early next year.
Khan pled guilty Oct. 29 to providing ISIS with material support, and procuring three plane tickets for himself and two underage siblings to travel to Syria to fight for the terrorist group. Khan paid for the tickets, procured visas for himself and two siblings, and was arrested at Chicago O’Hare’s International Airport Oct. 4, 2014 when trying to flee to Syria.
Khan was sentenced to three years in federal prison Friday, and his attorneys told the Associated Press he is intent on enrolling in college after he is released early next year. Khan is receiving credit for time served, in the nearly two years since he was arrested.
Khan will reportedly be subject to close federal monitoring for a period of twenty years, which prosecutors say is one of the strictest periods ever imposed. Khan’s sentence was also reduced for helping federal authorities identify two ISIS recruiters
“Upon arriving in Syria, defendant intended to work under the direction and control of ISIL, and be required to take any assignment ISIL gave him, which he expected would include activity ranging from non-violent assistance to a combat role,” Khan’s plea agreement details.
“Instead of public beheading, you’ve been given a public … proceeding,” presiding Judge John Tharp told Khan at his sentencing hearing. “The enemy government has not tried to kill you. It has tried to help you,” Tharp elaborated.
Khan’s criminal complaint describes numerous writings expressing sympathy for ISIS, and a detailed checklist of items required before traveling to Syria. Khan left behind a letter warning his parents not to tell the authorities he had fled to Syria, and that he was “upset that, as an adult, he was obligated to pay taxes that would be used to kill his ‘Muslim brothers and sisters.'”
“I extend an invitation, to my family, to join me in the Islamic State,” he entreated.
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