(Image source from: Woman imprisoned for helping IS elements?})
Shannon Conley, a 19-year-old woman from suburban Denver was sentenced four years imprisonment on Friday. Reportedly she planned to go Syria to help Islamic State militants, even as she tearfully told a judge that she never wanted to hurt anyone and has denied the jihad.
She told the judge she was misled while pursuing Islam and learned about atrocities committed by the extremists after being arrested she was taught to respect.
"I am glad I have learned of their true identity here and not on the front lines," said Conley, whose black and tan headscarf clashed against her striped jail uniform. "I disavow these radical views I've come to know and I now believe in the true Islam in which peace is encouraged."
But U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore expressed doubts over Conley's views which were changed, and she needs psychological help. He also sentenced her to 3 years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service and barred her from possessing black powder used in explosives, saying, "I'm not going to take a chance with you."
Moore described her condition just as influenced by her life that she was an isolated high school dropout with almost no friends her own age and a strange obsession with the military. In jail, she met an imam who counseled her about faith and left disturbed that she preferred to discuss jihad, Moore added.
"I'm not saying her actions were a direct product of mental illness, but she's a bit of a mess," Moore said. "She's pathologically naive."
FBI agents came to know in late 2013 about her tilt towards the jihad, as she repeatedly discussed this with the members of a suburban Denver church. They have tried to dissuade her intention but she was strong enough to adopt the move after online love with a suitor, who is working for the extremists, and she reportedly changed her name as Halima Conley. She told FBI agents she wanted to fight alongside him or use her skills as a certified nurse's aide to help.
Prosecutors sought the punishment period just four years in place of maximum five years, as she cooperated with the investigation team.
Federal defender Robert Pepin sought higher punishment as short pity punishment could not control the likeminded people reaching extremists.
-Kannamsai
