SENTENCING
support to terrorists and a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and to lying to the FBI about his travel to Syria. Monday, Mohamud apologized to his family and to the United States in U.S. District Court Downtown. He said he “fell into the trap of radicalization” after traveling to Syria to train with the Al-Nusra Front with his brother, who fought with the group before his death, he said.
“I was wrong,” Mohamud said. “I’m not making any excuses.”
The maximum sentence he could have received was 38 years.
District Judge Michael H. Watson said the “significant sentence” will deter others considering similar actions. It includes 10 years of supervised release after his prison sentence. Mohamud also must participate in a “deradicalization” program and obtain his GED.
He has already undergone a psychological evaluation.
Watson called the situation “deadly serious.”
“One of the greatest joys of being a federal judge is being able to preside over naturalization hearings,” Watson said. “But one of my greatest fears is that something of this nature will happen.”
Mohamud, a native of Somalia, came to the United States with his family as a 2-year-old.
He took the oath of citizenship on Feb. 18, 2014, in Columbus but had already planned to launch an attack on American soil by that time, prosecutors said. He obtained a passport and flew overseas just weeks later, eventually crossing the border into Syria with help from Al-Nusra. He brought an iPad and $1,000 for his brother, Abdifatah Aden, who had joined Al-Nusra in August 2013.
Mohamud returned to the United States on June 8, 2014, days after his brother was killed. There is no evidence the two ever met in Syria.
Mohamud then began recruiting others for a local attack.
He booked a flight from Columbus to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in November 2014, investigators say, and he planned to kidnap and execute U.S. soldiers. Mohamud also planned to attack the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth in an attempt to free Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist convicted of shooting at two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, Watson said Monday.
But Mohamud never got on that flight, which defense attorney Sam Shamansky said proves he had rejected terrorism. Shamansky asked Watson for a lenient sentence, stating Mohamud had been brainwashed.
Mohamud was ignorant of his religion and Al-Nusra used that to misguide him with false teachings of Islam, the lawyer said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Squires sought 23 years in prison for Mohamud in order to deliver a strong message to would-be terrorists, he said.
“This case involves grave circumstances that may have resulted in another terrorist attack in the U.S.,” Squires said.
Several members of Mohamud’s family were in court Monday, but none spoke. Watson referred to a letter Mohamud’s sister had written, stating her brothers’ actions have “shaken the whole family.”
Mohamud was arrested Feb. 21, 2015, after a traffic stop in which he gave officers Aden’s name. Aden was on a terrorist watch list, which led to the arrest.