American Girl Seeks Travel, Romance with ISIS

All tears and remorse now, but the judge wasn’t buying it. SMN Weekly:

A 19-year-old Colorado woman has been sentenced on Friday to four years in prison for trying to join the Islamic State in Syria.

Shannon Conley, who admitted guilt in wanting to become an ISIS bride and participate in its jihad in the Middle East, is one of the first Americans to be sentenced for conspiracy to support ISIS.

Before sentencing, Conley tearfully told the judge that she never wanted to hurt anyone. She said it was after her arrest that she learned the truth about the ISIS and after reading the entire Quran, she concluded that “the scholars” she had been following in her online research about Islam had distorted the Quran.

She called her situation a “life-altering” experience and said she now renounced jihad.

Conley also pleaded to the judge, saying she is not a threat to society.

But U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore told Conley, “I’m not going to take a chance with you.”

Moore said he doubted Conley’s views had changed, and she needs psychological help. He also sentenced her to three years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service and prohibited her from possessing black powder used in explosives.

Conley was arrested at Denver International Airport in April 2014. Investigators said she told them she was going to Turkey to await word from an ISIS member in Syria, a man she met on the Internet and planned to marry.

Conley received a sentence that was also recommended by prosecutors seeking to send a message of deterrence, but Judge Moore noted during sentencing, “What is it that will cause others to stop” in the future.

Meanwhile, Conley’s lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Robert Pepin, said he was disappointed with the sentence and noted that the plea agreement imposed limitations on any appeal.

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