That recommendation was one year less than the maximum sentence that a Colorado judge could impose on Shannon Maureen Conley, 19, who pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist group.
Her plea was made in exchange for a reduced charge with a lighter sentence.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, U.S. Attorney Greg Holloway said Conley has been cooperative and willingly provided information to investigators. He argued that a four-year sentence would send a message that the U.S. government uses restraint, but consequences are serious in terror cases.
But Judge Raymond P. Moore interrupted the prosecutor at one point saying, “That woman is in need of psychiatric help.”
“I’m not saying that her decisions were all a product of mental illness… But she’s a bit of a mess,” the judge said.
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Conley told them that “jihad must be waged to protect Muslim nations,” court papers said. She preferred to wage jihad overseas, to be with jihad fighters.
Conley told investigators she “would be defending Muslims on the Muslim homeland against people who are trying to kill them,” according to court documents.
Conley told her parents that her knowledge of Islam was based solely on research she had conducted on the Internet.
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CNN’s Ana Cabrera and Sara Weisfeldt reported from Colorado. Michael Martinez wrote and reported from Los Angeles.
