A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds an ISIL flag and a weapon on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
Shannon Conley, 19, will serve four years in prison for providing and attempting to provide material support and resources to IS fighters and other extremist groups including al Qaeda, the US justice department said.
Conley, who struck a plea bargain with prosecutors, had expressed a desire to wage violent jihad, or holy war, after meeting a man on the Internet who claimed to be an active member of IS in Syria.
The duo got engaged and worked together to have Conley travel to Syria to join her new fiance.
Before going, Conley trained to be able to fight and even joined the US Army Explorers (USAE) to learn about military tactics and firearms. She also had first-aid training.
FBI special agents met her several times to persuade her not to carry out her plans to travel overseas to fight but she refused to listen and was arrested when she attempted to board a flight to Turkey from Denver on April 8.
A search of Conley's home revealed books and articles about terrorist groups.
"The defendant in this case got lucky," said US Attorney John Walsh.
"The FBI arrested her after determining that she had been radicalized and planned to travel to Syria to support the brutal foreign terrorist organizations operating there.
"Had she succeeded in her plan to get to Syria, she would likely have been brutalized, killed or sent back to the United States to commit other crimes."
After prison, Conley will have three years on supervised release, followed by 100 hours community service.
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Hugs & Kisses, Getting engaged/planning to marry anyone isn't a crime since the repeal of miscegenation laws of the South as unconstitutional. Today, even same sex couples are permitted in most States. Buying a plane ticket to Turkey isn't illegal. Even running your mouth isn't illegal, in general, save for 'True Threats' or threatening the life of the U.S. President. She didn't do any of that. All she did was behave defiantly toward those trying to control a young adult woman. Taking training with others interested in the military made her no more a criminal than her classmates. She didn't propose to bear arms, but claimed she wanted to care for the wounded/injured--hardly a crime. She wasn't smuggling weapons to or financing ISIS. Our allies, Saudi Arabia and Turkey do that! Some claim the U.S. itself has done so. Everything you argue was GOING to happen is utter speculation and you don't have a crystal ball anymore than the sentencing judge did. This very young very naive woman was exercising her fundamental liberties. The federal authorities ran roughshod over those liberties to make an 'example' of her--i.e. terrorize other young people...not so different from the terrorists we rail against. This case demonstrates the sham U.S. justice has become. amicuscuria.com/wordpress
@Amicus Curia: so please help me to understand If I said that I want to kill your family, police have record of the my all messages and social site conversation, and I gather all necessary thing such as weapon. So what should police do now? should the let me kill your family first or should they arrest me without letting me murdered your family? the girl said that she was about to go there to help the wounded, really to help ISIS soldier? which wounded people she wanted to help? the one who are killed or wounded by ISIS? do you really believe that ISIS would have allowed her to help those victim? they even killed reporter and children.. so even stupid person can tell that why she wanted to go there, so US did right thing by arresting her. it seems you are troll, funny how this site allowed your comment
Same article, separate comprehension of inalienable rights. Even this girl's mother described her as clueless. She did absolutely nothing criminal, but hadn't the wit not to run her mouth. Her conviction and incarceration amounts to 'prior restraint'. If we're going to start jailing citizens for running their mouths, we're going to need a lot more prisons than we already have--the highest ratio per capita in the world. The girl admitted she wouldn't be allowed to take up arms, so intended (according to her) to provide medical care to the wounded...now THERE'S a high crime indeed. :( When America begins feeding on its own children, we have a problem, Houston. amicuscuria.com/wordpress
@Amicus Curia:
It is not thought police because she took action after repeated warning. She underwent army training, met with FBI who warned her against joining ISIS, got engaged to an ISIS fighter, bought ticket to turkey (gateway to Syria) and was planning to board the plane.
If they had not stopped her, she would have gone to Syria, and helped ISIS kill and torture innocent people.
@Amicus Curia: What world are you living in? She wasn't goint there to get married..she was going to kill innocent people under the mistaken belief that she is taking part in a holy war. Did we read the same article?
Unless we're now criminalizing people for what they'd "like to do" rather than for what they've done, I fail to see the crime in intending to marry someone, no matter who, or buying air fare to an ally (Turkey), regardless of her pipe dreams. This is further proof we have entered the era of the thought police, almost straight out of 1984. Our fundamental liberties and inalienable rights mean nothing in the face of U.S. government fiat. What was the point of beating the Nazis only to become just like them. We're supposed to have laws against 'prior restraint'. If this doesn't amount to that, I don't know what does. Her lawyer should be disbarred for allowing her to plead to such a travesty of justice. -amicuscuria.com/wordpress-