19-year-old teen gets four years for conspiring to join Isis

MANILA, Philippines—A 19-year-old American woman was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiring to join the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis).

In a report in the British newspaper The Independent, Shannon Maureen Conley from Denver, Colorado state, received the court’s verdict on Friday after she pleaded guilty to one count of “conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.”

Conley was arrested in April 2014 as she boarded a plane to Syria from Turkey. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the teenager wanted to marry a man she met online who is allegedly fighting for the terrorist organization.

The FBI claimed that Conley wanted to be a nurse’s aide for Isis and will fight alongside with the terrorists “if she needed to.”

During the proceedings, the teenager said that she has already denounced her views in support of Isis.

“I am glad I have learned of their true identity here and not on the front lines. I disavow these radical views I’ve come to know and I now believe in the true Islam in which peace is encouraged,” she said.

However, the judge in the case stated that Conley should ask for psychological help.

Aside from the four year jail sentence, Conley will also be placed under three years of supervised release, tasked to complete 100 hours of community service, and barred from purchasing black powder used for explosives.

FBI agents said that Conley has been considering joining the terror group since 2013. Aries Joseph Hegina

RELATED STORIES

‘I want to join IS,’ missing Korean teen tweeted

Islamic State recruits broadly, not just fighters