A federal appellate court on Tuesday ordered that an American man convicted of joining the Islamic State who was sentenced to 20 years in prison be given a new sentence hearing.
Mohamad Khweis was the first American to be convicted after a trial by jury in 2017 for joining the Islamic State overseas in late 2015, the Butler County Journal-News reported. After becoming a card-carrying member of the Islamic State, Khweis surrendered to the Kurdish in northern Iraq.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled 2-1 on Tuesday to uphold the core convictions of Khweis’s case, the Journal-News reported. (RELATED: American Who Pledged Allegiance To ISIS< Directed Others On How To Attack New York Pleads Guilty)
US foreign fighter Mohamad Khweis allegedly surrendered to Kurdish Peshmerga forces to escape ISIS. pic.twitter.com/aCn4EksyuU
— CEP (@FightExtremism) June 16, 2016
The court ruled that contested methods used by two investigative teams to collect information from Khweis were acceptable, the Journal-News reported. However, the three judges decided that the count of Khweis’s use of a firearm during a violent crime should be overturned and that he should receive a new sentence hearing.
It’s unclear whether the new sentencing will change Khweis’s circumstances, according to the Journal-News.
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