19 Year Old Shannon Maureen Conley Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison Admitting to Trying to Join ISIS, Become a Bride and Participate in Terrorist Jihad in the Mideast

19 year old Shannon Maureen Conley was sentenced to four years in prison for her efforts in joining ISIS and intent on participating in jihad in the Middle East. Conley pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in September. Under the plea deal, Conley agreed to divulge information that she may  know about other Americans with similar intentions. Conley spoke at her sentencing in court on Friday and said, “Even though I supported a jihad, it was never to hurt anyone. It was always in the defense of Muslims.” She apologized to the judge, saying she was embarrassed by her arrogance, “I do not believe I am a threat to society and would appreciate an opportunity to prove it.” Thankfully the court did not agree, sentencing her to 4 years as U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore said before sentencing Conley, called her “a bit of a mess. and “to me, it doesn’t seem like she gets it.”

Conley pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in September under a deal that requires her to divulge information she may have about other Americans with similar intentions.

FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who told her he was fighting with the extremists. She repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her skills as a nurse’s aide to help.

CNN:

A federal judge gave a four-year prison sentence Friday to a 19-year-old Colorado woman who admitted guilt in wanting to become an ISIS bride and participate in its jihad in the Mideast.

Shannon Maureen Conley is one of the first Americans to be sentenced for conspiracy to support ISIS and received a sentence that was also recommended by prosecutors seeking to send a message of deterrence.

Though the judge initially cited how Conley needs psychiatric care, he sided with prosecutors in the end.

“What is it that will cause others to stop” in the future, Judge Raymond P. Moore said during sentencing.

Before sentencing, Conley wept as she read a statement saying, “It was after arrest that I learned the truth about the ISIS that I was taught to respect.”

UPDATE I: Statement from the Conoly family:

An Open Letter to the President and the American People

Over the last several months my wife and I have received numerous requests for a statement about our daughter Shannon’s situation. Now that she has been sentenced we would offer these thoughts.

We were told at the time of the investigation the Department of Justice (FBI and Federal Prosecutor’s Office) was trying to formulate a better response to young people being radicalized by ISIS and other groups. In doing so the local personnel went to extraordinary lengths to navigate the turbulent waters caused by these events. In our dealings with them we have been treated with respect and compassion throughout this affair. It’s unfortunate the local efforts apparently weren’t viewed as more worthwhile by their superiors.

The strategy of the terrorist is to make the enemy change behavior through the use of fear and to subjugate the enemy by making them live in fear. A tactic of asymmetric warfare is to cause the enemy to expend large amounts of resources dealing with a situation that costs little to create.

We’re told the average ISIS soldier makes roughly $150 per month. The ISIS soldier Shannon had contact with was called Yousr. His actual time on the internet with Shannon was certainly less than one month’s work. The government has now spent tens of thousands of dollars putting Shannon in prison and intends to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more keeping her there.

We’re told the government is afraid that, even if Shannon is not a threat to the public, others may make similar choices. Those people need to be sent a message that if they do they should fear capture and prosecution. Shannon’s continued punishment is to ensure that message is understood by the American people. Additionally the, perhaps unintended, message is the government is willing to sacrifice the future of a 19 year old American citizen to drive the point home.

If these things are true then we feel the terrorists have won this particular battle in the war on terrorism. Fear has increased, behavior changed and resources expended. We also feel this disproportional governmental response simply aids the terrorist in winning his war by doing for him what he can’t do for himself: terrify the American people. (more here)