On Monday an American woman who called herself Jihad Jane was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a US judge – the sentence came as a decade less at least than prosecutors had wanted, in her role in a failed plot to kill a Swedish artist who had depicted the head of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad on a dog.
Colleen R LaRose, 50, who converted to Islam online and has maintained her faith, was given credit for the four years she has already served. LaRose, who pleaded guilty to following orders in 2009 from alleged al-Qaeda operatives, could have received a life sentence.
Her attorney Mark Wilson, told reporters after the hearing it's a just and reasonable sentence. She's pleased. Ten years is about what we were hoping for all along, reports Reuters.
US District Judge Petrese Tucker called LaRose's crimes "gravely serious," “The court has no doubt that, given the opportunity, Ms LaRose would have completed the mission,” he added.
Tucker also cited the significant cooperation that LaRose has given the Federal Bureau of Investigation in other terrorism cases since her 2009 arrest, as well as the sexual and other abuse she suffered as a child. The story of her abuse was chronicled in a 2011 Reuters investigative series.
As she became involved in the Muslim online community, LaRose began using the name Jihad Jane and travelled to Europe in 2009 intending to participate in a militant plot to shoot artist Lars Vilks in the chest six times. However, LaRose became impatient with the men who lured her to Europe and she gave up after six weeks and returned to Philadelphia, where she was arrested.
At Monday's hearing, LaRose apologized for blindly following the instructions of her handlers. She said I was in a trance and I couldn't see anything else. I don't want to be in jihad no more.
Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams had sought "decades behind bars" for LaRose, arguing that despite her extensive cooperation, she still was a danger to society. Prosecutors had also pointed out that LaRose - a blond, green-eyed, white American - did not fit the stereotype of an Islamic militant.
Williams said on Monday this is a sentencing that people are watching. Ms LaRose had such a big impact in the public and press because she really did change the face of what the world thought of as a violent jihadist. It was scary for people to hear that Ms LaRose could have been radicalized simply online in the US.
Wilson told the court that the plot to kill Vilks was "more aspirational than operational" and that LaRose had never even fired a gun. He had described LaRose as a lonely and vulnerable woman easily manipulated by others online. He also said her behaviour, while not excusable, can be explained in part by deep psychological scars from her childhood.
LaRose's biological father repeatedly raped her from about age 7 to 13, and then she ran away becoming a prostitute, according to court documents. At age 16, LaRose married a man twice her age and later became a heavy drug user. LaRose told Reuters in a 2012 interview I survived a lot of things that should have rightfully have killed me.
While LaRose was in contact with an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan, her conspirators repeatedly messed up the plot that never moved much past the planning stages. Vilks, the artist, had told Reuters that he believes LaRose has spent enough time in prison and should be freed.
Vilks told the Swedish news agency TT on Monday that’s a pretty tough sentence.
Under US sentencing rules, LaRose will likely serve 90 percent of her sentence, which means she will be eligible for release around 2020. She has requested imprisonment near her sister, Pam LaRose, in the Fort Worth, Texas, area; however a final decision will be up to the Bureau of Prisons.
LaRose was in solitary confinement for four years, however recently moved to the general population at a Philadelphia jail.
Ali Damache, LaRose's alleged handler in Ireland, remains jailed there, fighting extradition to the United States on terrorism charges. Jamie Paulin Ramirez, who flew from Colorado to marry Damache in Ireland, has pleaded guilty to related terrorism charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday.
The sentencing for another co-conspirator who has pleaded guilty, Mohammad Hassan Khalid, has been delayed in order to complete psychological evaluations. Khalid, who grew up in Pakistan and was an honour student in suburban Baltimore, committed his crimes when he was 15 and 16. He is the youngest person ever charged with terrorism inside the United States.
According to a November report in the Guardian newspaper, documents leaked by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the US National Security Agency, to the British newspaper show that the FBI became involved in the Jihad Jane case after the NSA intercepted communications.